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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23870362">The Smoke After The Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/virginea/pseuds/virginea'>virginea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Beyond The Wall and Across The Narrow Sea [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Crack, Dark, Dark Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen, Eventual Smut, F/M, I swear, Prequel, Resurrection, Targlings (ASoIaF), if you little shits come again to bit my ass over this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:03:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>174,639</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23870362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/virginea/pseuds/virginea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A revelation forces all players to take their places on the board again.  A good man only wants to do the right thing, while the dragons scattered in different parts of the world will have to face the enemies that will try to extinguish their fire once for all.</p><p>And after the fire, only smoke remains, right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Beyond The Wall and Across The Narrow Sea [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>414</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The feeling in the heart of a good man.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have this written on my notes: a jonerys story where both of them realized how much they were screw by the other characters and together they turn to the dark side. or something like that. </p><p>This is the result, months later. </p><p>Enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I couldn't decide whether to go for the sequel or the prequel first, so I thought to myself that it would be what I finished writing first. This one won.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>1.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Davos (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>King's Landing</strong>.</p><p>Two children ran past him, sticking their fingers in his ribcage to get his attention, and what he least wanted at the moment was that, so he took a couple of coins out of his bag and gave them away, ordering them quietly to withdraw. They giggled and left, their faces deformed by the fire of that distant day making him feel apprehensive of what he was about to do.</p><p>He cleared his mind of doubts and continued to move forward, the hood of his coat always well placed and his sharp gaze in making himself certain there were no animals nearby, especially birds.</p><p>In the intermediation between two streets, where one could still see remains of what was once a building, there was a narrow passage, where only one person could fit. Davos thought again about what he was doing at the beginning of this one, but by the time he had finished crossing it, he was determined to make it happen.</p><p>The place he was looking for was a kind of temple, nothing less than that. Outside of it, there were people - orphans or beggars, as most of King's Landing's population was, although these seemed to be less in need here than in the streets at the other end of the passage. He approached the entrance to this place where a man in red robes stopped him and looked at him guardedly. Davos raised his hand showing himself as he came, unarmed.</p><p>Inside, the place was dark, and the dim light that came from the many flames lit throughout the room.</p><p>"Ser Davos Seaworth," bellowed a deep, dark voice, which shifted him back in time to Melissandre of Asshai. The former sailor turned to see where the voice was coming from. She was one of the red priestesses, all the same as the only one he knew. "Your presence does not come as a surprise." She moved her head, showing him the path that he should follow. "My name is Dassera of the Shadow. I must be the one to guide you during this dark time."</p><p>He huffed with reluctance, always wary of whatever words those of her kind would utter. </p><p>"Because the night is dark and full of terrors, I take it?" he surmised. </p><p>She turned with a sardonic grin on her face, "Because is how is it meant to be." </p><p>She continued to guide him down a long, dimly lit corridor to an inner courtyard with a water fountain in the middle. Davos looked concerned at the sky that his king's omnipresent eyes were not watching them.</p><p>"Do not fret, Old Sailor. The vigilance of the Raven King cannot break through the sacred protection of this place.</p><p>He became uneasy as the seconds ticked by and approached with real despair to the red woman. "Years ago I met one of you - Melissandre of Asshai. She spoke of prophecies and did things on behalf of them for which I would have liked to be me with my hands on her neck the one to end her existence."</p><p>She smirked before he could go on and said, "You have seen things beyond your comprehension, we know."</p><p>"We?"</p><p>"As I told you, this visit was long ago foretold. Now, my Old Sailor. Will you share your predicament so I can confirm the motivation on behalf you are acting," she said, each word slipping off her tongue in a very strong but delicate accent. </p><p>Davos sucked in a deep breath. </p><p>"You have brought her back," he accused. "Daenerys Targaryen is alive."</p><p>Dassera regarded the sailor with a ponderous countenance, probably assessing his confrontational tone.</p><p>"The Lord of Light works in mysterious ways. That's true."</p><p>"Lady Malissandre brought back a man, a man who ended her life when she became a monster. But she wasn't like that, we all believed she was different." He was desperate.  "There was no sign of madness in her."</p><p>"Sometimes monsters are created, Ser Davos. And sometimes they can't be seen by the naked eye," she remarked, "Truth is, her time in this world is not yet over."</p><p>The old sailor took some steps back.</p><p>"It will. She cannot be alive. She is dangerous."</p><p>The red woman scoffed. </p><p>"How much time do you think that has passed between her return and today, Ser Davos? Has she come back? Has her passing provided peace and plenty to the Seven Kingdoms?"</p><p>"Six...Kingdoms," he corrected. After a long moment of silence and multiple thoughts crossing his tormented mind, he asked, "Why was she brought back? <em>Why?</em>"</p><p>"You don't have to understand his will. We all have a part to play. And yours is about to unfold." She paced, approaching him. "There's a wish on your heart. There's something telling you that what you want to do is right. Don't fight it."</p><p>The priestess took his chin and made him look into her eyes, as full of mysterious darkness as the luminosity of her unwavering faith. There Davos felt it inside him. Not just a wish, or a thought, but something else...something powerful.</p><p>And she smiled because she knew it.</p><p>Before leaving, she extended to him a gold bracelet. Davos took a closer look at it.</p><p>"What is this?" he asked.</p><p>"First, it will protect you," she explained, placing the item on his wrist. "When the time comes you must pass it over to the one you will alert of this new." </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (I)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Beyond the Wall</strong>.</p><p>He breathed in the scent of the forest and perceived a hint of blood that grew more intense as he crossed the uneven and snowy terrain towards it. The closer he got, the faster his heartbeat quickened. He slowed down only when he reached the mouth of a cave whence the scent came from. He was certain.</p><p>Another pair of eyes lit up the darkness. He heard the sound of his strong breathing coming from the other side and a bellow of warning. As he advanced with precaution, his companion moved and he stepped in the cave. Overwhelming sensation flooded his entire being then. </p><p>Ghost abandoned his defensive stance when he observed the she-wolf inside the cave lying with his pups. After sniffing and receiving another warning snarl, he lay down on his front legs and gawked at the scene.</p><p>So this is what you've been hiding, boy, Jon chuckled. </p><p>For a time he had let the wolf roam the forest, to see if he could find any of his mates. Perhaps Jon had chosen solitude as a lifestyle but it wasn't fair to his loyal friend. He needed his own pack. He had that opportunity.</p><p><em>Keep them safe</em>, Jon told him. <em>Protect the pack</em>. </p><p>It sounded frivolous coming from him, maybe, Jon didn't know how to solve that question in his mind. Protect the pack. Protect the own. </p><p>It is what he has done after all. Isn't it?</p><p>He stares at the fire he has lit to light up the darkness of the night. A darkness that only dimmed in the daylight. No fire seems to burn enough, either to illuminate or to keep him warm. However, it is his only consolation. If he stares at the dancing flames for long, he can see her still. The color of her eyes, the shape of her nose, her lazy smile in the dawn first light. It is his solace and his condemn, to be able to see her so clearly still in his mind because it only reminds him that one day he will forget everything.</p><p>There's nothing on the other side, he knew. His memory is the only thing that kept her real, existent. The day that oblivion consumed him and nothing was left of her, then he would return to the darkness to be with her.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Lord Crow has returned."</p><p>It didn't surprise him too see Val very well settled in his shack. The first time it did, especially when Jarl came over and the uproar unleashed, thinking that Jon had stolen her from him. Truth was that none could steal her, not even Jarl. </p><p>Jon gave her a condescending smile, aimed to let her understand he wasn't really pleased with her presence. No one's presence is really welcomed.</p><p>Jon walked over the lonely table that decorated the small room, where she sat in the only chair. He put the skinned game there and observed at the beautiful woman staring at him with defiant eyes. Sometimes he would look at her and forget about the warming, softening eyes of the past, but just a moment. That was all the solace he allowed himself. </p><p>"Shall I expected Jarl to come over and smash my door again?" he asked, letting the discomfort slide. </p><p>Val scoffed, leaning back on the chair and crossing her arms above her chest. </p><p>"I've just come to bear out you're still alive, Lord Crow," she replied, smiling wickedly. </p><p>Jon shrugged. The good thing about coexisting with the free folk was their null concern for his whereabouts. Once they secure the new settlement, Jon was left alone as well as he detached from their company. Only Tormund would approach him every now and then with news about what was going on but mostly Jon had tried to avoid finding out of whatever it's happening. </p><p>Jon was appreciated by them, that was true. But the more time passed, the less sense his presence had among them. When they heard of his crime they stopped seeing him with such sympathy and some of them even tried to isolate him completely. He spared them the debate by walking away on his own accord, and since then there was cautious respect held by both parties. </p><p>Jon sighed.</p><p>"You know it, now. Can I have my chair back?"</p><p>Val stood up and simulated returning the chair but as soon as Jon sat, she did as well on his lap. </p><p>He tensed up. </p><p>"Didn't you miss me?" she whispered at his ear.</p><p>"Val!" he grunted, standing and walking away from her. It wasn't just that he didn't want to receive her attention, because she was outstandingly beautiful and would turn any man insane of desire. It was a matter of respect. She could tease him, but her goal was not to end up warming his bed but to ignite her partner's anger. Might even the wildest part of her wanted to prove that she could break Jon's snobbery and prudence, but every time the idea approached his mind, all he would think about was that he was being disloyal to someone else.</p><p>A person he would never see again.</p><p>"Such a prude, crow. Yours hadn't denied themselves of a good time this long," she mocked him, pacing the room and tracing her fingertips over the edge of some stuff of his that arose her curiosity. They were mostly things he took of Castle Black from Maester Aemon's chambers. "News from the Wall came for you," she finally said.</p><p>"I don't want to hear them," Jon warned.</p><p>The change in weather had also meant that the time for raiding had begun. It was one of the reasons Jon had also decided to step aside. If he was unable to raise his sword to assist the raiding parties, then he was a hindrance. And even a traitor, depending on the observer.</p><p>At the time, he had intended to reach an agreement regarding the razed lands south of the Wall and its abandoned castles. He had hoped that Sansa would attend to the administrative matters in his absence, and even that once things in King's Landing had settled, he would have the opportunity to integrate the free folk to avoid looting. Neither things in King's Landing settled, nor did Sansa heed his wish. As a consequence, small battles for those lands were being waged in the most unprotected sectors of his sister's - cousin's kingdom. With the Night's Watch virtually non-existent, the small villages had been left vulnerable to attacks of all kinds. Wildlings, Ironborn, or even to the greedy lords of the North themselves.</p><p>Jon had grown tired of hearing these kinds of stories. He shut down the world completely when he left the Wall and wanted it to keep that way. </p><p>"How was his name? The old man that was always by your side?"</p><p><em>Ser Davos</em>.</p><p>He cursed beneath his breath because now she got what she wanted. She got his attention. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"I thought I will never see you again." </p><p>It was strange that even after finishing crossing the tunnel, the old sailor has approached him right there. Jon had lost his perception of time somewhere between the first moon since his departure from the Wall and the settlement installation. Years passed, he knew. How many years? he was not sure.</p><p>"I planned it that way," Jon asserted.</p><p>He had nothing against Davos. Of all the people he used to lend a thought to during the devastating nights, Davos was the only one he didn't blame for anything that had happened. How many times had he given him the right advice and Jon didn't listen to it? They seemed plain insinuations at the beginning of the whole thing but then he kept on insisting and Jon just put his mind to what he believed was important back then until everything crumbled and his solutions, so simple to carry out in a moment, had turned futile in the face of so much damage. </p><p>Before losing his thread of thought, Jon went to the most obvious assumption. </p><p>"Something happened with Bran?"</p><p>Davos hesitated.</p><p>"No," he said, "but there's something I've come to talk of," he blinked rapidly and stared at what was behind him. A small group of people from the village. Jon didn't know if they come because of the protection because they were making sure Jon will not turn on them and return to the kneelers ways. "Is she...?" Davos asked but before he could conclude Jon halted his supposition.</p><p>"A spearwife," he explained, turning to see at Val who returned a sharp gaze toward them. A warning most likely. "A warrior of the free folk," he returned to speak at his former Hand face. "Just a friend."</p><p>Davos nodded before approaching to embrace him. It was a sincere gesture, and he allowed it because of that. Otherwise, he would've preferred to keep the distance.</p><p>"We weren't informed of conflicts here in the North," Davos said, surprised. Since independence probably they had cut ties of responsibilities with what was happening. An ugly suspicion crossed Jon's mind.</p><p>"Have you come in the name of my sister?" he blinked away the confusion, and corrected, "My cousin?"</p><p>If this was Sansa's attempt to use him as an intermediary between the free folk and her people then she was absolutely in the wrong state of mind. Time of peace came and she stood firm in the belief the free folk belonged North of the Wall. She took her own decisions. Jon had decided long ago he didn't want to fight for peace anymore. He didn't want to fight for anything at all. </p><p>"No," Davos clarified quickly, "Neither do I come on behalf of any formality Jon." </p><p>"Then what's the matter?" </p><p>Ser Davos hesitated again, and Jon noticed him apprehensive as he has just seen him after the burning of King's Landing. </p><p>"Something happened in the East," he finally revealed and his barely functional heart skipped a beat.</p><p>East only could mean one thing, Jon knew.</p><p>"Drogon," he surmised. </p><p>He had given up on that possibility long ago but perhaps the resentment in the beast's heart was enduring. Jon understood him. After filling his own with a fair share of the same, he finally understood him.</p><p>Davos shook his head before asserting his gaze on him.</p><p>"He took her body to the Temple of the Light in Volantis," he said, swallowing hard before continuing. "The temple of the red god."</p><p>If before his heart had stopped, now his heartbeat had accelerated as much as when he was inside Ghost's mind. <em>Danger</em>? No, he felt no danger. It was something other than mere danger.</p><p>"She is alive. She's been alive probably since it happened."</p><p><em>Daenerys</em>.</p><p><em>Daenerys was alive</em>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Davos (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>To say that the poor man was well despite the circumstances was blasphemous, but at least he was still alive. During the journey there, Ser Davos feared that the rumors that he had ended his life in the remotest part of the Haunted Forest had made him grow desperate. If only there was a faster way to let him know that his crime was atoned. </p><p>"Did you know it before?"</p><p>It only seemed natural he would react so suspicious and wary of everyone that could come to find him. His fate was unfair and Davos had protested in front of Tyrion and the King of the foolishness of keeping him here when the man had saved countless lives with his actions.</p><p>No one listened to him. He was just a crazy old sailor.</p><p>"No. Bran saw her recently."</p><p>Davos watched thousands of thoughts pass through Jon's tormented mind at once. His eyes had turned dark as the sky in a storm. His breathing had become audible from where Davos was. Fury and Anger. </p><p>Jon took a few steps back and turned his back to him, running both hands through his matted dark hair. When he returned to his place, the conflict had given way to a strange indifference.</p><p>"If Daenerys is alive, there's nothing we can do about it. I won't fight against it."</p><p>Just like the first time he was unfairly sentenced, Jon only accepted his fate. And knowing him well, Davos wasn't surprised. He was very attached to the feeling that he deserved the bad things that happened to him. However, the matter in question was not that.</p><p>"I haven't come to warn you, though," he added.</p><p>Jon laughed bitterly. </p><p>"Have you come to ask me to do it again?"</p><p>"Will you?" </p><p>Silence. The sailor had thought he was playing with him but when his expression turned serious he realized he was being sarcastic. Resentful even.</p><p>"I only did it the first time because she-" he muttered through clenched teeth but them trailed off. "Because she loved me and I took advantage of it."</p><p>Shame. He was ashamed of his doing.    </p><p>"Jon, son," Davos approached with a hand on his shoulder that the man removed quickly. Ser Davos continued nevertheless, "She killed thousands. You did see it in the streets of King's Landing as I did, children, babies, mothers, elders...<em>innocents</em>."</p><p>"I wronged her," he snapped, "Before that, I didn't do anything to show her-" he stopped, breathing in and breathing out. "I see her every night in my dreams, I saw my father looking at me with contempt, <em>both of them</em>."</p><p>"I don't think Lord Stark-,"</p><p>"He despised Jaime Lannister for the same crime I committed. I cannot. I will not!" he stated bluntly. Then in a low but firm voice, "If she comes is because it must be this way."</p><p>As soon as he said the latter, Davos cringed. That was exactly the reason why he was so conflicted about this news and went directly against his King's wishes of not making Jon aware of this news.</p><p>There had to be a reason.</p><p>"You knew her better than all of us," Davos said, "Might even better than Tyrion. Tell me why she did it?"</p><p>Jon shrugged, his face contorted in a despondent expression. </p><p>"She said it was necessary. That her mercy only returned in losses and that she was going to build a new world because she knew what was good for the people. Just as Tyrion told me she would." He shrugged. "Something about breaking the wheel."</p><p>"The wheel?"</p><p>"She believed in helping the people that were subjected to the cruelty of those who held the power and I truly believed in her. How couldn't I? Slaver's Bay, her sacrifice to help the North, she..."     </p><p>Davos nodded and gave his own vision.</p><p>"In all these years I couldn't understand it. Targaryen madness...it wasn't like that with her father, she seemed so well and sane. I thought you should know, so you can live in peace, son. That's why I came here, Tyrion and your brother didn't want to tell you but this is a burden you shouldn't carry anymore. You did the right thing, Jon."</p><p>His words far from comforting him seem to only ignite something in Jon that he hadn't seen since Ramsey Bolton lashed out at him murdering little Rickon.</p><p>His impulsiveness lightened up. </p><p>"Why they didn't want me to know?" he asked, walking slowly and menacingly. "Ser Davos, why Bran and Tyrion didn't want me to know Dany is alive?"      </p><p>Dany, he called her. He barely used to name her like that in front of strangers. </p><p>"They send people - special people to handle with her." </p><p>He widened his eyes in horror.</p><p>"They will kill her," he stated.     </p><p>"Jon," Davos spoke carefully, "Jon she is dangerous."</p><p>He doesn't respond and for a long minute, he just stared at Davos.</p><p>"Where is she?"  he asked to know.        </p><p>"Son..."</p><p>But it wasn't a question, he learned it when the former King and secret Targaryen cornered him against the wall, easily holding him by the ruffles of his coat.</p><p>"WHERE IS SHE?" he demanded with a cry.</p><p>The people waiting on the other side of the wall stirred or at least their horses neighed. Davos thought he heard sounds of encouragement and celebration.</p><p>"Braavos," he replied quickly, too old to face the fury of such a deranged man. "We don't know exactly where but Bran is certain she is hidden somewhere there."</p><p>Jon let him go and started walking towards the Castle's main courtyard. </p><p>"Jon?" Davos followed him. "Jon! Jon!" he called but the man is relentless. "The birds, Jon!"</p><p>This last bit seemed to make him understand the danger of exposing themselves out there.</p><p>He turned around, shocked.</p><p>"Bran is watching me?"</p><p>"Jon, Bran is not Bran." He explained but didn't want to dwell on the dubious intentions and doings of the King he chose to serve willingly. "What are you going to do? You can save her, she's probably dead already."       </p><p>"She is not-," he cut off, looking at another side. "If I can't save her, then I will at least die with her so may I rest in peace. We were both brought back. Perhaps we both must die. Tell Bran that."</p><p>"I will not tell him anything," Davos promised him. Deep down, he understood his stubbornness. "Look, my friend is the captain of a ship that goes back and forth to Braavos, he brought here but will not take me back to King's Landing. He's preparing to sail for Braavos right now-"</p><p>Jon shook his head.</p><p>"Why? Why will you help me?"</p><p>Davos breathed put and his hard stance softened. </p><p>"You still love her." </p><p> </p><p>*** </p><p>After convincing his company that he would be back in a few days, Jon took some old rags from the castle warehouse, and without much else on them, they took a shortcut to Eastwatch where Salladhor's small and always stealthy fleet awaited them. The path was silent, reminding him of the path they traveled together to King's Landing four years ago.</p><p>When his mind was full of thoughts, his mouth was wordless, that was Davos noticed of Jon.</p><p>In the way, he noted some birds looming over them but nothing of the kind of his grace. As long as he couldn't see Davos, they were safe, he would only see Jon alone roaming the Wall's surroundings. That was the red priestess told him.</p><p>Once in Eastwatch, Davos quickly gave him the bracelet. </p><p>"What is this?"</p><p>"A red woman gave it to me. I think that it blocks our King's sight."</p><p>Jok wrinkled his nose as if he had caught a foul odor in the air. A gesture that Davos usually made when seeing the results of Tyrion and Bran's decisions. A hope increasingly decreasing. </p><p>"Is him...being good for the Realm?" Jon asked, observing the bracelet as he did the first time. "I know for sure Sansa is not for the North."</p><p>Davos sighted.</p><p>"We work with what we have," he simply replied, pushing Jon towards the boat that will take him to the ship. When they stepped on the shore, the man turned around with a conflicted, almost hurt expression. "She will never forgive me."</p><p>Davos pondered his statement for a moment. Yeah, there was a great possibility that this was meant to put Jon in the center of her anger. Any other person would do that.</p><p>"Then, give her every day a reason to overcome it." He shook his head, trying to take the weight of his words and be more rational.  "Just take her away, to the farthest point of the Known World, and never return. Live in peace. Make her understand you can still have a future together. Away from this shitty place."</p><p>Jon nodded, his determination unwavering. </p><p>"Thank you, Ser Davos."</p><p>"But Jon," he called him before he could turn around, "If it doesn't work and she's the same person that burned King's Landing-"</p><p>"I will not do it again!" he made himself clear.</p><p>He was about to tell him to do it as soon as possible. Before the Iron Bank sent mercenaries to collect their due, before Bronn had finished screwing up the entire economy of the Realm, or before the North had become a hostile territory and Queen Sansa's head hung on a pike in the battlements of Winterfell.</p><p>That's what he was going to tell him.</p><p>However, Davos spared him the burden and only bowed his head.          </p><p>Upon reaching White Harbor, he created the perfect distraction for his King and the King's Hand.</p><p>Davos had accepted his fate before the journey. Serving futilely was like carrying a dead weight each day, and he was tired, old, and familyless. Jon had been like a son for him, and perhaps he had sent him to certain death now, but that feeling in his heart told him that it had not been in vain.</p><p>They surprised him in an alley, believing he was going towards the Wall and not coming from there. He hoped so, as he bled to death, imagining the face of his Marya and his Matthos waiting for him somewhere.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>"Gaomagon daor nādīnagon bona, ñuha jorrāelagon," she admonishes Missella as the girl tries to remove the bracelet from her little wrist. </p><p>"Ziry angogon nyke, Muña," her daughter explains that it itches with an aggravated voice. She felt her heart clenching at her suffering but it is inevitable. They needed those bracelets for protection. </p><p>Dany squatted down, stroking the soft skin of her freshly washed childish face and moving the dark curls out of her forehead. She looked into her amethyst eyes as her own but thought with regret that time only made her and her brother favor more Jon's features. </p><p>"Kessa ao vāedagon syt nyke?" she tried to divert her affliction by compelling her to do her favorite thing in the world: singing. She was so natural for it. </p><p>The girl jumped with a broad smile and while Dany washed and took care of the black, unruly curls of her head, she started signing. There was no greater delight for the former queen than hearing her sweet daughter's voice.</p><p>After she ended with the bath, Dany wrapped her with a rag, before dressing her in a simple shift for the night that resembled her own.</p><p>She returned to her room where her son was already asleep, in a strange position with his arms at his side and his rear raised. Dany shook her head but laughed lightly. At night, the boy would spin so many times that it was sometimes impossible to rest properly. Sometimes, she would even consider the idea of moving them to a separate room but quickly dismissed it, never wanting to part with them. </p><p>"Good girl, Missella," she congratulated her with a low voice, switching to the common tongue, and making a gesture to shush her pointing at her sleeping brother. She tried as much as possible to pass on all languages and dialects she knew, as Viserys did with her.</p><p>Once clean and neat, mother and daughter laid on the bed beside the boy. At the feeling of her presence, Jorian cuddled up beneath her mother's left arm while Misella peacefully resting on her chest, thumb on her mouth. Dany kissed both her children on their little heads. </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have no idea how many chapters this is going to take, but by no means is it going to be as long as my other story and its long chapters. More than five and at most ten.</p><p>I know some of you don't like to read Jonerys apart and angry with each other but it's never been my style to make things easy for them. However, things will not be so devious either. If you noticed the details in this first part, in this story Daenerys did not burn King's Landing of her own free will, so the whole matter of the knife to the heart will be justified on her eyes and rather the conflict will have to do with what happened before that moment. If you have already read The Great Alliance, you know this is not a story where Daenerys overpowers Jon. It is a different approach, which will narrate how two people who were screwed for their good intentions turn dark.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A matter of blood.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>2.</strong> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (II)</strong>
</p><p>Jorian ran through the crowd ahead of his mother and sister, not caring that Daenerys berated him to slow down. His silver curls were dyed the same dark tint as his mother, to avoid attention. Daenerys knew that they were not the only silver-haired people left in the world, but it was known that for their heads somebody could make good money in the slave trade. The mere idea caused her nightmares. Braavos was a safe city to shun slavers but it was still dangerous to simply hang around, she had learned it from her time wandering these same streets with Viserys. </p><p>After returning, and after the birth of her children, Daenerys stopped trusting even her own shadow. The only reason she had stayed so long in the Temple in Volantis was that she did not know where else to go. Meereen and the rest of the cities she had liberated had been taken back by the slavers at the very moment news of her demise reached the East. Westeros had nothing for her. All she had left were Drogon and a handful of fanatics who greeted her as a kind of god and would surely in time pursue any further benefit.</p><p>The former house of Ser Willem she bought some years ago when she barely started her reign in Meereen was the only legacy that left unscathed of all that catastrophe that turned out to be her futile quest in the West. Obviously, she gained something more valuable in return for so many losses: one of them walking by her side, hand in hand with her, and speaking indifferently over the bustle in the docks about the people she saw in the market yesterday while the other one was ahead of them, stirring his mother's nerve. </p><p>Jorian, named after her loyal bear, and after his own sire - something she would not take from them, and Missella, named for her sweet Missandei and after the mother Daenerys never knew, were the reason she hasn't taken her life once and for all. Them and Drogon are all she has left in this world and the fear was only worst than when she seemed to have so much at her hands. </p><p>The less one had the fiercest was the need to protect. </p><p>"Mama, look!" Jorian shouted, pointing at the toy sword gleaming on one of the merchant's counters, who was displaying his products right there. Usually, she bought their toys in the same market where she sold her merchandise. Or rather she bartered. However, there in the docks, those were more expensive because of the better quality. Wholesale prices were better but units were too high for indulgence. She would buy his sword at another time, she had promised herself. But now was not the best time.</p><p>"Come here, Jorian," she called. </p><p>The boy looked at the sword again and finally turned around to abide by her command. He did not seem frustrated or angry, his temperament susceptible to sudden emotions was calmer that day. Where Missella was tranquil and passive, Jorian was demanding and active. </p><p>"Where are we going? I am tired!" he protested, pouting and crossing his arms above his chest while still advancing along with his mother and sister.  "We just walk over and over and over and I just  want to stop, Mama!"</p><p>Daenerys chuckled. </p><p>"A fighter doesn't complain about having to walk too long, Jorian. In fact, they walk a lot more than what we are walking in a day."</p><p>"I am tired, too," Missella joined the conversation, sighing and watching her steps. She was counting them, only to twenty and starting off from one again as Dany taught her. </p><p>"But we are not in battle! When I am in one, I will walk. Now I want to sit!" he said, extending his arms and pointing at his feet. He was such an actor at his young four years, Dany thought, smiling and shaking her head. </p><p>Daenerys narrowed her eyes forward, searching for the correct ship. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the <em>Valyrian</em>, she smiled. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Old Davos introduced you as John Smith but I am sure as hell that's not your name."</p><p>Jon gave Captain Salladhor a shy nod and continued to work on tying the latches on the mainmast. They were entering the port of Braavos and had to lower the sails from the galley.</p><p>During the journey, as he was a stranger to the crew, they assigned him different tasks that keep Jon away from them and he's been grateful for they had given him a perfect excuse for not having to answer these kinds of questions.</p><p>Until now.</p><p>Salladhor was a diligent captain, who knew how to divide time into commanding and hanging out with his crew. Apparently, he had been tolerant and cautious with him because of his friendship with Ser Davos but from time to time, Jon felt the man's gaze on him, mayhaps trying to find what mystery made him abandon the North and get on his ship.</p><p>"Are you one of the men who live in the Wall? The black cloaks?"</p><p>Should be. However, Jon never took the oath again. And the men still hanging around the abandoned castles on the Wall were anything but brothers of the Night's Watch.</p><p>"I am not. Not anymore."</p><p>"Then, what you are?"</p><p>Jon hesitated.</p><p>"A wanderer," he answered. </p><p>"I heard stories of a man who served in The Wall, then became a King...King in the North. He went to ask for the Dragon Queen's favor, and she favored him but in the end, he killed her." Salladhor wore a smirk on his face as if the narration could cause any amusement. He eyed at Jon's sword. "They also called him the White Wolf."</p><p>Jon recoiled, defeated. Not having to face the effects of what he had done was one of the reasons why he had simply accepted the punishment of exile.</p><p>"I've got nothing to say," Jon said, looking up at the captain. "If you cast around for a bribe, I have nothing to offer you."</p><p>"Yeah, something tells me I can get a good price for that head of yours. Davos is very fond of you, though." He scoffed. "Is true what they say? Did she go mad?"</p><p>"I thank you for your kindness, Captain." Jon cut him off before it could stir something ugly inside him. "Here is where we part ways," he announced, taking his satchel with very few things and going to the ramp. </p><p>Salladhor turned and kept speaking.</p><p>"Where are you goin'?" he asked, curious. Seeing then, he was not hearing him, he stopped him by saying. "Fine. Take this."</p><p>Jon frowned and turned around, just in time to catch the pouch he threw in his direction.</p><p>"What is this?" Jon was confused. Offended. </p><p>"People do not exactly hunt to live here, son. You'll need that to buy food, clothes, a bed, and perhaps someone to warm it up."</p><p>Jon looked down at its content. <em>Coins</em>. </p><p>"I cannot accept this."</p><p>Salladhor laughed hard.</p><p>"Easy, soldier. Davos paid for it. I'm not gifting anything to you."</p><p>Jon sighed. He hadn't seen coins in a long time, he had even forgotten what it was to pay for something. It was then that Jon realized how lost he was and how impulsive and unreasonable he was being. This was the first time he left Westeros, and he had not even educated himself on Essos and its life. All he knew were stories. </p><p>"Captain Salladhor. Have you ever seen houses with red doors?"</p><p>When Davos told him that Daenerys was in Braavos his mind immediately traveled to one of the conversations they had had when they were still intimate. The house with the red door and the lemon tree outside her window. Ser Willem's house, his protector. <em>The childhood I never had</em>, she said.</p><p>She had returned to that house, he was sure. And so he believed - he had to, that it meant that she had decided never to return to Westeros. </p><p>The captain scowled and mulled over his question, staring at the city. </p><p>"Here in Braavos? Not exactly." He answered. "But if houses are what you are looking for, go North. And please, buy a map of the city."</p><p>Jon nodded.</p><p>"Thank you, Captain Saan."</p><p>He got off the boat and heeded the captain's guidance, walking in that direction. He wasn't that far away when he heard the man shouting - talking to someone. </p><p>"Look at you, beautiful! Have you brought something for me?"</p><p>Jon turned to watch him speak to a young, dark-haired woman with two children. Would she be his wife? He hadn't even wondered if the man had a family.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Daenerys spread the garment on the table in the center of the Salladhor cabin on his ship. The old captain, meanwhile, showed the children the objects he brought from his adventures in the different markets of the Known World, while they listened intently with wide eyes. This time he was recounting about her friend, an old sailor who made him go to the northmost part of Westeros, to a place that she knew well: Eastwatch by the Sea. A chill ran down her spine at the memory.</p><p>"...and the Wall is so high that one could not finish looking it without hurting the neck!" he was telling them.</p><p>Jorian asked the Captain to take him with him on his next adventure when Daenerys turned to interrupt the exchange.</p><p>"Captain," she called out to him, "Do you want to see that everything is alright?"</p><p>The man smiled.</p><p>"I'm sure everything is in order, little Dany. Your coin is in that corner."</p><p>Daenerys shook her head in disbelief, going where he had instructed her and seeking payment for her work on the garments he liked so much, with the monkey-shaped buttons in the center. A man with strange tastes.</p><p>The first time Salladhor had approached her, Dany had seriously doubted his intentions. It turned out that the man was just very outlandish, and his crew extraordinarily educated to be men of the sea.</p><p>She approached her children announcing it was time to go home before it was too late.</p><p>"But Mama, he was telling us about a soldier. A real soldier from the west!" Jorian protested. Daenerys raised an eyebrow at the captain, who was watching the scene with amusement.</p><p>"And a very famous one indeed!" he prompted. </p><p>Daenerys cringed, suddenly feeling uneasy.</p><p>"Thank you very much, Captain. But we have to go home for supper," she said with a stern expression that admitted no objection to her son. Missella remained calm with her small legs dangling from the chair and a little discouraged for having to leave the boat. She had once told Dany about her wish to sail someday. "Besides, I imagine Captain Saan must rest. Sea voyages are exhausting, aren't they, Captain Salladhor?"</p><p>The man understood Dany's tone.</p><p>"Of course, children. You must listen to you Mama." he asserted. "Always." When he stood up, he went to find something between his things. </p><p>Jorian sighed, despondent, and dragged his feet toward Daenerys while Missella jumped off the chair and trotted to take her mother's hand. </p><p>"Here they are," the voice of Salladhor claimed, showing in both his hands a different toy for each child. </p><p>Dany felt them thrilled at the view. She was about to protest when Salladhor extended the items to the children and they held them tight against their chest. A carved ship for Misella and a wooden stallion for Jorian. </p><p>"You shouldn't, Captain," Dany said, shaking her head. "Children, what do we say?"</p><p>"Thank you, Captain," Missella sang.</p><p>"Thank you, thank you!" the boy shouted, too excited in the object to even care in any other thing. </p><p>"Thank you, Captain Salladhor," Dany also thanked. </p><p>They took the path to the busiest streets in the city. Dany went down every day in the direction of the market, and at the end of the day, they would go up to return to a house that was probably well beyond their financial means.</p><p>"I wanted to hear about the soldier, Mama," Jorian commented with disappointment in the way.</p><p>"He was gone!" Missella reminds him.</p><p>"The soldier's story, <em>I meaned.</em>"</p><p>"I meant," Dany corrected him. His common tongue was no perfect yet. "Do you want to hear about a very famous soldier of the West? He was calle-"</p><p>"I'm tired of Jorah!" Jorian grumbled. </p><p>Her heart clenched. She's recounted how he saved them while they were in her tummy since they've been able to hear stories. She's been careful, they didn't know for example anything about Targaryens or dragons. As much as wished for things to be different, at their age, their true identity was only meant to put them in danger. Westeros and its war were just stories.</p><p>"I was talking about another very brave soldier from the West called Ser Barristan, but as you are so tired of your mother's stories, then we shall not speak until we reached home."</p><p>"Oh, no," Missella rued. "Mama, can I hear it? I want to hear it, Mama," she added, truly concerned. </p><p>Dany gave her daughter a stealthy nod, while she waited for her son's reaction.</p><p>He was staring at her with those big gray eyes very attentively as if she had taken the toy from him. They know that when Dany states something is really hard to change her mind and now they'll have to wait for bedtime to hear what she was about to tell them. </p><p>Sometimes it was very difficult to balance the understanding mother for one part and the strict mother on the other. Although they were children, they had to understand from a very young age about love and also about discipline, or so Daenerys supposed that families did. The truth is that she walked blindfolded on a very fine path.</p><p>Jorian was prone to extreme reactions, to extensive tantrums that she patiently tried to appease by simply ignoring him, even though she herself wanted to cry and scream in frustration. In that sense, Missella was his complete opposite, hugging her brother to calm him down and singing to her to bring him peace of mind. For some reason, it reminded Dany to Viserys and herself and she prayed for her young son to never cross the line Viserys did. For that, she needed to be with them, always. Gods know what the world does to familyless children. </p><p>Luckily for Dany, Ser Willem's house was in a section quite apart from the other houses. It was a long walk with a bridge in between, it is true, but totally gratifying because it was surrounded by lush nature that protected from intrusive looks. It was everything she dreamed about for years. And still...it was the same. A home that her children still don't know it was also a prison for they are not truly free. Might they never will. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His first reaction was to sit back and think. It had taken almost a moon for him to cover enough territory to realize that it would probably take longer than the amount of money he still had saved. Someone in the inn where he was stopping mentioned something about looking for a job in the hills, and so he came across houses that reminded him of Dany's description of her stone house and wooden roof. </p><p>He found her exactly there.</p><p>He was confused at the beginning, watching from the distance a woman with dark hair spread in her garden, picking up her vegetables with total indifference to whoever was watching her from afar. If she hadn't had her hair tied up in a braid at the side, he wouldn't have realized it was her and probably would have passed her by. </p><p>Jon didn't know how long he stood there just staring at her, making sure her image was true and not a product of his imagination. When she looked up with a frown, he drew back and hid again. </p><p>He was terrified. Not because he feared she would harm him, that he would gladly welcome, but because he did not know what to say to her. What do you say to a person you have murdered? His assassins showed no remorse. He still remembers little Olly looking at him with pure hatred in his eyes. And Jon hated them too. He hated being made to believe that he could feel safe between his own men. He hated being sent to such a cold, dark place, where there was nothing. Unprotected, he was not even allowed to defend himself. All those things he had done to Dany, whom he not only served but also loved and was his own blood.</p><p>She was a murderer too. She had murdered thousands in cold blood, children among them and showed no regrets. Who was that person? Sometimes he thought it would have been better to wait and see what was going through her mind. But then she determined that no one else had a right to choose, and Tyrion's words echoed in his own mind.</p><p>"<em>You have to choose now</em>."</p><p>And he did it. In a blink of an eye, Arya, Sansa, Bran, Samwell, all those people that have hurt her. If she killed innocents, what would she do with those who wronged her? </p><p>As he looked at his hands and tried to control the accelerated rhythm of his heartbeats, he wondered if she was now the Dany he knew and loved. She was now a farmer, not a vengeful queen. And even if she were, she would be in her right. </p><p>Jon startled at the sound of loud scream coming from behind and turn around in a rush. Another thing that made him paranoid and desperate was not arriving in time to prevent the assassins sent by Tyrion and Bran. If he had just found her by chance, what of them who were professionals? </p><p>What Jon found was not that, however. The image shocked him even more than Daenerys's sight had.</p><p>Two children were facing her, as she spoke to each other in a scolding tone. From where he was, he could see that they both had dark, disheveled hair. He only distinguished that it was a girl and a boy because the girl was wearing a dress and the boy pants under his long robe. Or mayhaps he was doing a wrong assessment of the whole scene in front of his eyes.</p><p>The only thing he took for granted at the time was that those children were his and that he had killed Daenerys with his children in her womb.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The nineteenth day of the eleventh moon of the 309th year after Aegon conquest, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fresh winds are blowing and announcing a change in the weather. The orchards produce less than I had expected and I may have to turn to the old market alchemist for advice. The children have been more active since their fourth nameday, the past ninth moon. Missella can read up to five words in a row and Jorian up to three, with some difficulty. I don't think he is less bright than his sister but his attention diverts very easily, especially when...</em>
</p><p>A sharp knock on the table and her parchment was completely stained with apple juice.</p><p>Daenerys stared in surprise at where Jorian's container had fallen. He hurried down the table.</p><p>"Jorian!" she shouted, removing the piece from the table and taking it to a counter to assess the damage. The entire entry for that day had been blurred, only the date remained. </p><p>"My meal is drowning," Missella commented with boredom.</p><p>"Jorian why did you do that?" Daenerys asked, shocked. "Jorian!" she called him again, going down the table but he has run to the room already and slammed the door. </p><p>Dany sighed.</p><p>After checking that Missella no longer wanted to eat, she wiped her mouth and face and they went together to the room. When they entered, they found Jorian in bed playing with his wooden horse. Dany lifted Misella in her arms and they sat together next to the boy, looking towards the opposite wall and without uttering a single word.</p><p>After a while, Jorian sneaked up on her, probably believing she wouldn't notice. Finally, Dany raised her right arm and allowed him to get close to her and lie on her chest. Missella had already started singing.</p><p>"<em>...a girl with big, big eyes, she was wandering around and she put a finger on his lips</em>."</p><p>Daenerys frowned.</p><p>"Where did you get that song from?"</p><p>Missella shrugged.</p><p>"There was a girl with big eyes who told me to shhh," she put her little finger on her mouth, mimicking the gesture after a giggle. "I thought it was funny, Mama."</p><p>Her heart skipped a beat.</p><p>"Missella, did you speak to a stranger?"</p><p>The girl looked up and shook her head. She knew that was forbidden.</p><p>"She just stared at me, Mama."</p><p>They had found her. She knew immediately, she had no doubts.</p><p>Her mind and heart had broken into a thousand pieces. Not even five years had passed. She hoped that at least that would be the time it would take for things to turn bad again. And it was all her fault, she knew it.</p><p>Daenerys tried to remain calm but the children noticed that her face had contorted into a grimace and tear fell lonely down her cheek.</p><p>"Don't be sad, Mama. I won't throw away the juice again, I promise." Jorian said touching her face with his small hand.</p><p>Dany shook her head, letting other tears fall.</p><p>She had a plan, in the stable a bag with everything they would need to get to Volantis. Saved coin. A knife. But she knew that none of that would do them but speed, just as Viserys had instructed her back in the day.</p><p>She tried to calm down, time was precious. She would let them sleep for an hour while preparing everything. Fear ran through her body, in a second she could lose everything again.</p><p>The idea of summoning Drogon arose in her mind, but for that she would have to remove the bracelet, probably taking even more risk.</p><p>At that moment, she prayed that whatever god that brought her and her children back from death was also the one to help her escape once again.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon did not know how long he stood in the bushes looking at a lost spot on the ground, processing the fact that he had children. He had murdered his own children. There was no way Daenerys was going to receive him in the slightest, his only hope was to sneak out to see them before facing her and alert to danger before she got rid of him. And a part of him didn't want her to do it. He had to protect them more than ever. They were his. </p><p>He was a father. </p><p>What finally made him react was the sounds of rushing horses coming from what appeared to be the stable. He went there cautiously, watching before acting rashly, though now all his senses had sharpened as if he were Ghost himself protecting his pups in the cave. </p><p>Protect the pack, he'd told him. And sure he was willing to kill everyone who dared to harm his children or their mother. </p><p>It was Dany. She groomed two of her horses and a small cart, tossing a bag in the back. She was in a rush, coming and going from the house.</p><p>Jon guessed that she was aware of his presence and was running away, though he didn't know how she came to notice it. In any case, he saw no purpose in continue hiding and watch her disappear without doing more. He mustered the courage to face her, determined to throw his sword at her feet and allow her to do whatever she wanted with, and beg her to at least one encounter with the children.</p><p><em>If I gave her enough time, I could explain to her why she has to let me protect them</em>, he thought for himself. </p><p>Jon also did think he should not allow her to do it, that there was a greater good at risk. Their children. </p><p>If he had killed her once to protect the world from her rage, perhaps he should incapacitate her now so that he could protect her and the children.</p><p>Jon shook the thought out of his head.</p><p>He began to move through the bushes until he heard a loud crash inside the house. He ran as fast as he could.</p><p>He crossed all the way and found the door ajar. Inside, he didn't see Dany, but an upturned table and various plates and cutlery on the floor.</p><p>He had already unsheathed Longclaw.</p><p>In a secluded room, he heard muffled noises. Jon stealthily walked there, finding the most horrifying scene: Arya had Dany fettered and gagged. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Arya (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Bran never mentioned children, but she surely didn't need much insight to know that they were her nephew and niece. The moment the girl looked into her eyes, she felt it in her blood. And at that moment, she also understood her powers - her faces, were not working.</p><p>The dragon queen didn't seem to be mad like the last time she saw her, in fact, she seemed sane. She appeared at the market to sell fabrics and other things six days in a row and rested on the seventh in her remote house on the eastern side of the city. To have been a queen, she didn't seem intimidated by the toughness of the working life, walking long miles back and forth each day. Sometimes she even frequented the port.</p><p>The reason for which Arya was taking her time was because of the dragon and because she hoped that Bran would somehow contact her again to explain the situation with the children. In Westeros, it was a fact that Daenerys was dead, and as it was that if it hadn't been her brother, someone else would have killed her.</p><p>The dark-haired children were as Targaryens as Starks as well as their father, and they could run the risk of being persecuted for their mother's actions. For a long time, she pondered what to do with them once she got rid of the mother.</p><p>The most obvious choice was to take them North, to Winterfell, or to the Wall.</p><p>The first thing she thought when she saw them was Jon, at least in the girl she could see the taciturn features of her brother - cousin. But then she also concluded that their existences could threaten the young reigns of Bran and Sansa.</p><p>She even came to consider that they could pass by common children with their dark hair. But then, what if the dragon follows them?</p><p>Drogon never appeared, though.</p><p>She scanned all around the area where Daenerys resided to check if the beast lived nearby but found no trace of him. </p><p>Why would the dragon queen live like this? she wondered at some point. </p><p>As much as the memory of that day made her heart race and she wanted to slice her throat, the curiosity to know what she was plotting with so much tranquility, made her hesitate. And that was her mistake because without having foreseen it, the woman began to pack her things for what was obviously an escape at night.</p><p>There was no time to lose.</p><p>Before going for it, she entered through one window and made sure to block the door to the children's room. Surely they would not be meek to her, especially once her mother did not return.</p><p>She didn't think it would be difficult, however, when she went downstairs and chose to punish her rather than end things in the style of faceless men.  Arya was pleased to see her fight. Daenerys became aware of her presence and battled with her. She was strong and struggled to survive, just like the citizens of King's Landing that day under the merciless fire of her dragon. </p><p>She dragged the dragon queen into a separated room and heard on the wooden ceiling the little feet of the children who were alerted by sound. She could even sense their futile attempt to force the door open. A part of her heart felt for them but this was the right thing. Their mother would only make them into another mad Targaryens.</p><p>It was right, she told herself. This is right.</p><p>And then the door opened and there appeared her brother - her cousin, looking at the scene horrified as if he hadn't done the same thing years ago.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The sound of their infantile crying brought him out of the fright and numbness. His immediate instinct was to run upstairs, where he found a piece of furniture in front of the door of the children's room. He regretted it on the way because he knew what Arya was trying to do down there. Luckily his sister followed him.</p><p>Jon removed the piece of furniture that blocked the door, which was shaking incessantly with the struggling of the children to open it. The moment he did this, he almost fell to his knees right there. The children were shocked to see him, sword in hand, and with Arya behind him.</p><p>The boy was hard at first, while the girl burst into tears and put her hand to her mouth as she wet the floor. Then, the boy ran towards a wooden sword in the corner, taking the girl by the hand and they hid.</p><p>The scene broke him into my pieces right there.</p><p>His legs gave way to the horror of what he would represent to his children - of what their first and perhaps only memory of him would be.</p><p>Arya walked forward and closed the door again.</p><p>His face was contorted and spasms ran through his body with the force of his sobs. At that moment Jon hated Arya with all his being, as he never thought he could.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Arya (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She went downstairs to make sure Daenerys was still in place. The queen of the ashes had hurt her wrists in the useless attempt to untie herself. Her face was full of tears and a muffled cry escaped her mouth.</p><p>"I don't murder children like you," Arya told her, to stop her stirring.</p><p>She heard Jon's heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, and then walking to where they were, Jon and his dragon queen came face to face. Daenerys started to shake again.</p><p>"Arya, untie her," he asked her. He actually demanded it. "Arya, don't make me repeat it."</p><p>"Aren't you even going to say hi? I haven't seen you for almost five years."</p><p>"Arya."</p><p>"No, Jon."</p><p>"Arya!"</p><p>She looked at him without understanding him.</p><p>"I thought your good judgment had returned the day you ended her life."</p><p>"She is the mother of my children," he argued. </p><p>"Aye. And she is a murderer."</p><p>Jon stepped into the room in her direction but she stood up.</p><p>"And what are you?" he rebutted, "And what am I? If all the murderers have to die, then the three of us will have to die."</p><p>"You know it is different," Arya tried to make him see the truth. "She is not the person you grew to love. There's no redemption for her sins. It hadn't been you in that throne room, it would've been me. She can't be saved," she stated firmly. Then she softened her face and walked toward him, understanding how hard it was for him. "Look at your children, they are innocents yet, we can make them see what is wrong and what is right and keep them safe from her nature."</p><p>"Her nature?"</p><p>"Fire and blood."</p><p>Jon looked away, blinking and rubbing his brow. He was confused.</p><p>She put a hand on his shoulder and he recoiled from her touch.     </p><p>"I know that asking you to do this a second time would be cruel, so let me be me the one to deliver justice this time."</p><p>"Justice?" </p><p>She nodded.  </p><p>"For King's Landing."</p><p>Jon scoffed a little.     </p><p>"I believed...I believed she was going to hurt you, or Sansa, or Bran. Please, Arya, it wasn't right."</p><p>She took his face with her palms, making him see at his eyes.</p><p>"You," she asserted, "were right. And now we must stop her before it happens, again." She smiled, trying to reassure him. "Stay with your children, I'll do the rest."</p><p>"Arya..." he called out at her again, his voice tortured.</p><p>Arya, however, turned around to look at her prey. Her eyes widened, in her hand, she held the Valyrian steel dagger.</p><p>"It would serve justice to the ones that died that day," she mused, enthralled with the sight of the monster writhing. </p><p>"Please," she heard Jon's plead again. </p><p>Arya kneeled at her level and watch into her amethyst eyes. She would probably see those eyes forever in her niece's. </p><p>"Now she can feel what they felt down there. Scared and powerless." She brought the dagger near her throat, sliding the blade of the knife up and down the tender skin of her neck. She remembered how good it felt to deliver justice, just like when she did with Walder Frey and all his lineage. "Father used to say that one has to look at the eye of the person when the sentence is passed on. Don't fret, Jon. This time I'll make sure she does not come back so you can live in peace with your children."</p><p>The moment she raised the dagger in midair, she heard the characteristic sound of the piercing of flesh. The sharp pain came later.</p><p>Arya looked down at her chest and found the pointy end in her chest. The dagger fell from her hand to the ground with a thud as she watched and felt the sword slide out of her.</p><p>Her mouth flooded with a metallic taste. Much more than when Waif stabbed her repeatedly in her belly. She barely had time to turn around and find Jon's contorted face, and Longclaw in his hand stained with her own blood.</p><p>She weakened and fell to the ground, her older brother coming to hold her a while as everything went dark around them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I based the children actually in the few children I babysit sometimes and what I notice is that boys tend to be somehow more agitated and girls more talkative (? idk. Do you have any advice on how to write them?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Dust of the kindred.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>3.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The sounds that came from the King's chamber echoed in the rest of the fragile structure of the castle. Tyrion remained still in front of the gates, just staring at the carved texture in it, his whole expression contorted. The soldiers placed at each side, eyed down furtively at him as if wondering how much time they would have to pass this rareness for normalcy. Tyrion wondered that too.</p><p>The doors open wide when His Majesty believed appropriate to allow his Hand in. Tyrion nodded at Podrick, who wore an impassive face, his scary temper accustomed to the King's tantrums.</p><p>"Your grace," Tyrion said, "The meeting with the Hightowers' deputy-"</p><p>"There's no time for that," Brandon interrupted him midsentence. </p><p>Tyrion blinked, stern expression. </p><p>The boy turned into an ancient entity was overlooking the city from his window. His detachment from the Realm's affairs somehow reminded him of Cersei. </p><p>"Is something disturbing our King?" he approached very carefully not to stir anything in that magic head of his. </p><p>"She failed," he answered. His voice normally devoid of any emotion, this time sounded full of resentment. </p><p>"Who failed?"</p><p>Bran averted his eyes from the view of the half wrecked city to look at him. </p><p>"Arya Stark," he said, "She failed in exterminating the Dragon Queen."</p><p>Tyrion sighed, vexed. </p><p>The news that Daenerys had been alive all this time had caused him nightmares of all kinds, related to the last days of her life and to the days they didn't know what that friendship would be turned into. </p><p>Resentment, regret, jealousy for something that could have been but was not. When the Great Master Samwell Tarly urged them to send assassins while she was still passive, he did nothing but tremble and drown in a jug of the purest wine. He hated her, loved her, wanted her dead, and at the same time, a very malicious part of him was longing for her to come to interrupt this predicament in which he had placed himself.</p><p>Tyrion pulled out of his thoughts. </p><p>"Does it means that-?"</p><p>"She's dead."</p><p>He swallowed the lump in his throat. </p><p>"Daenerys killed her?"</p><p>Bran scoffed, outraged he seemed.</p><p>"I can't see it." He revealed. "I can't see anything."</p><p>His power to travel to the past and observe the present happens to not work when it came to Daenerys and whatever magic she was wielding. Tyrion recalled with apprehension the dark and determined face of that red priestess who preached the exploits of their beautiful Queen. The souls she would purify by thousands.</p><p>And that was going to be just the beginning apparently. </p><p>"And who do you know that's certain?" </p><p>"Because I saw her die. But not who did it."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Daenerys (V)</b>
</p><p> </p><p>His eyes welled with tears as he wrapped the body of his sister and rocked her back and forth while apologizing for what he has just done. She kept in silence, slyly trying to force her hands out of the tie. </p><p>When the mourning ended, he lifted up his eyes to meet hers. The first time she was so shocked that she couldn't process any coherent thought, but this time she averted him and writhed when he approached. </p><p>He removed the tie and the first thing she did then was to push him and run upstairs.</p><p>She slammed the door open, searching for the secret hideout behind the folding screen, where she taught them to shelter in case of danger.</p><p>"Jorian! Missella!" Dany screamed. She also told them to just respond to her voice. And so they did, jumping out of the hollow space to her arms. </p><p>The moment she held them in her embrace felt like falling to the ground. Dany hadn't been this frightened and angered since Viserion and Rhaegal's death. </p><p>The two children wept on her shoulders, Jorian with her wooden sword in hand while Missella sobbed uncontrollably, her little body trembling and dirty with her own pee.</p><p>They were terrified.</p><p>How would she make them forget what had happened? Now fear would mark their lives as it had marked Dany's. She failed them.</p><p>Daenerys collected herself immediately. The cart that she had prepared at the entrance to her house was still waiting for them. </p><p>She lifted the two children into her arms and cautiously descended the stairs to the main hallway. In the room where things happened, she could still hear Jon's soft cry.</p><p>She passed by it, making sure the children don't see the scene.</p><p>Just when she was about to reach the entrance, he jumped in front of the door and blocked the exit.</p><p>"Please," he mused. "I didn't come to hurt you, I came to warn you that they are chasing you. We have to-"</p><p>Jorian slipped out of her hold and in one quick movement struck Jon in the leg with the wooden sword. Jon stopped him, struggling weakly with the boy as if doubting what he was doing. When they stopped, Jorian stood in front of his mother and sister in a defensive stance.</p><p>Dany never saw him so determined.</p><p>"Jorian, māzigon kesīr," she indicated him to back up and stand beside her. She didn't know what to do so she turned around to find the back door just for Jon to stopped her again.</p><p>Missella started crying, her fist muffling the sounds of her mouth.</p><p>"You are scaring them!" Dany finally shouted at him. "Let us go. Tell your people I want peace. They will never see my face, again. I don't want the throne, I don't want anything to do with Westeros!"</p><p>"Dany-"</p><p>Jorian lunged at Jon again with his wooden sword, this time yelling at him.</p><p>"Don't!" Dany called him out. </p><p>"Calm down, boy," he pleaded with the child, kneeling with both hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you nor your sister nor your mother. I am a friend."</p><p>"Jorian, come here," Dany ordered, pushing him back by the collar of his tunic. After the boy hid behind his mother's legs, Daenerys raised her amethyst eyes to find his tormented ones. "How did you know?" she questioned, aggrieved.   </p><p>This was the first conversation they would have after what happened. </p><p>"Ser Davos warned me." he stammered, each word took his breath away as he was struggling to make it make sense. "They are after you."</p><p>"And how did you find me? You came with her...They sent you!"</p><p>Just there Daenerys reminded Arya's words: they have not seen each other in almost five years. They didn't come together. </p><p>"No!" he confirmed.  "Let me explain, Dany. <em>Daenerys</em>."</p><p>She shook her head and refused to keep listening. She already made peace with the past, and this was unfair. </p><p>Daenerys ran toward the stairs, dragging the children with her, and entered the room, locking the door.  </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He planned to bury her body, but could only wrap her in one of the fabrics that Daenerys stored in a chest, with her sword and dagger in her grip, and close the door.</p><p>He was transmuted and accelerated, making sure Daenerys would not sneak away.</p><p>His pulse trembled. A strange feeling of abandonment flooded him. When he did it, all he could see were the faces of his children. The girl wetting the ground in fear and the boy - <em>Jorian</em> was his name, who saw him as his enemy.</p><p>And then, their mother.</p><p>Arya couldn't even see through what happened that day. And it was like that, wasn't it? Children dying in their mother's arms, scorched.</p><p>He was oscillating between sleep and wakefulness when he heard the creaking of the wood of the stairs. He jerked and his hand traveled to Longclaw's pommel - now clean, in an instinctive reaction.</p><p><em>Daenerys</em>.</p><p>She changed the brownish nightgown she was wearing some hours before, for a long-sleeved blue dress. Her earnestness only made her look more sublime.</p><p>Last night the words pushed one after another in his mind, and now there was only silence. Numbness. Paralyzed with fear, not of her but of what could happen in seconds, Jon did exactly what he planned to do from the start.</p><p>He put Longclaw on the step below the one she stood, and walked backward so she could collect her. </p><p>She didn't. Instead, she spoke.</p><p>"What are you doing here?"</p><p>Jon breathed out. She was calmer than she was last night.</p><p>"I came to protect-" he trailed off, finding the choice of words inappropriate. And it seemed she also believed so because she scoffed. "I knew people were coming. I knew you were in danger."</p><p>She raised an eyebrow. </p><p>"Then you decided better off doing it yourself again." Before he could respond to her sarcasm with the irony of having to kill Arya to protect her, she added, "No. You really came here with the intention of warning me." She frowned. "What else Davos knew?"</p><p>For some reason, he felt this was not the direction the conversation should go. There was so much unsaid between them.</p><p>"I didn't want to do it. I regretted it."</p><p>But you did it, her expression yelled at him. Instead, her lips said something else.</p><p>"Do not be. You killed a monster."  </p><p>He winced.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Serene, she bent down and finally picked up the sword in her hands, beginning to descend the steps.</p><p>"The burning of King's Landing. I do not remember it. I know they said I did it but I cannot remember a single thing but the night before when I went to sleep. I woke up suddenly in a place I've only been in a vision and you with your hand on the knife that was piercing my heart," she looked up to him, eyes devoid of emotions, she was extending Longclaw back to him. He didn't want it back. She retreated. "Then the darkness, and then the light. The Red  Priestess said I was poisoned."</p><p>Awestruck, he had to find balance by leaning against the wall. </p><p>"...It was my fault. I knew it was Lord Varys' field. The moment he appointed you as the best choice, I should have foreseen he would want to clean the way for you-" </p><p>Impression. That's what he felt seeing her execute for treason the man who was poisoning her with their children in her womb. And his poison had found a way to go through time because at that moment Jon's body flood with a destructive feeling. </p><p>"It's fine if you don't believe me. I will only ask you a safe passage for me and my children and I promise you that you and your people will never heard of us."</p><p>His heart raced, taking a step forward and away from the support of the wall, causing her to take a few steps back, away from him.</p><p>"I'm so sorry, Dany. I'm so sorry," he begged. "For everything that happened. Sorry that I couldn't avoid the pain and leave you unprotected when you needed me the most. Had I know-"</p><p>"The past," she cut him off, strident, "Is in the past. We shall not look back. I have no much time, I have to keep moving before someone like your sister finds me."</p><p>"I've come because of that. I..." he heard sounds coming upstairs and both craned their necks in that direction. "They are mine," he said, finally. </p><p>He expected some resistance but she looked down and nodded. </p><p>"Jorian is the boy, and Missella, the girl."</p><p>Jorian and Missella. His children. Their children. </p><p>"How are they?" </p><p>"They'll be better if you let us go."</p><p>Silence loomed over them again. </p><p>"You can't protect yourself. You'll see what happened just with Arya. What if more people come the next time?" suddenly he remembered something was amiss. "Drogon," he recalled, "Why he's not here?"</p><p>Dany's face contorted in pain, lowering her gaze to his wrist. </p><p>"Where did you get that?" she asked astonishingly. Jon traced her eyes on the golden bracelet he had just forgotten.</p><p>"This?  Ser Davos gave it to me. You have one too."</p><p>He'd seen it when he untied her.</p><p>Daenerys looked down at hers, nodding. </p><p>"The Red Priestess gave it to me. She said it would keep me safe, out of the sight of your brother and the people that want us gone. It blocks any type of magic. Drogon can't recognize our bond when I'm wearing it." Jon saw her grimacing. "I removed it once. I wanted to see him. And I think that's how your brother and Tyrion found <em>us</em>."</p><p>Us. She was speaking of the children, but Ser Davos never mentioned them.</p><p>"I don't think they know. Davos never told me about them."</p><p>Dany lifted her stare, confused. He didn't pay attention to his words when he spoke them, it was the plain truth. He came to save <em>her</em>, ignorant of the children they shared. </p><p>She saved the awkwardness for both of them.</p><p>"How could you know I was here? Did you follow me?"</p><p>"No. I looked for the house with the red door." He scoffed, which couldn't be more improper. "It happens that there are many houses with that description and now your door is not even red. People in the city sent me here to find a job in the fields."</p><p>"A job in the fields?" she wondered unable to accept his words. "It is incredible how extensive is the impact of honor and duty on you that made you travel half the world to come to apologize. Because that is what you came to do at the end of the day. What is right." Dany walked aside to lean Longclaw against the other wall. With her back on him, she continued speaking, "That's what I also thought when I woke up in a cold temple with the red god fanatics chanting around me. That's what I said to myself every night thinking that in the end yes, you betrayed me. That I sang in my mind as your children grew and fed on my body." The words had a clear intention; she was being reasonable, showing him that she was sane and not mad person he found in the throne room. However, they were also sharp, filled with resentment polished into mere sadness. "I told myself that, the day I heard the story of your exile and disappearance, hoping that the rumors that you had taken your life were not true."</p><p>She turned around and the early sunlight hit half of her face, making her look ethereal even with that brownish color hair. </p><p>"I do understand you, Jon. I let you go in order to become what I must be to protect Jorian and Missella. So don't come to me for forgiveness because there's nothing like that. There were only circumstances that cast us asunder, and you were the one in slackening the sails first."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He's left perplexed. The entire night she hasn't slept a single minute to prepare herself for this moment. To muster the courage to convey her feelings - past and reminiscences, into a statement that could liberate his deranged soul and making him see what's best for them. Yes, he has killed his favorite sister to protect her but this only scared Dany more. The last time she stopped understanding him, they - whoever they were, used him as her weakness.</p><p>He became her weakness. </p><p>A mother shouldn't have any weakness but her children. She forgot this and lost Viserion and Rhaegal. </p><p>The house with the red door and the lemon tree outside my window, she confessed one night, wrapped in his arms. It served a purpose amidst the folly they engaged themselves in, Dany supposed. </p><p>Her last memory of him is the strange scenario with both of them in that destroyed throne room. Before that, his detachment. Regardless of this, his sudden appearance did not result totally strange for her since if one this she knew about him for sure, he wanted to do the right thing. Dispassionate or sore, he would always do so.</p><p>The foul odor that was beginning to permeate the air fazed her. They had no much time left. Dany decided to stick with the original course of action, even if that meant accepting these turns of events. </p><p>She sighed and nodded toward the stairs.</p><p>"Come with me. I'll introduce you to your son and daughter."</p><p>He followed her lead, speechless. Dany surrendered herself up to the moment. She didn't fear for the children as she did last night, but still, her stomach burned with a sense of danger. Would he hurt them as he did with her? She was almost certain he would not. Would his presence endanger them more? This was her predicament. </p><p>When they were facing the door, Dany warned, "Stay here and wait until I call your name. Missella is a very sensitive child and she's been crying in her sleep. Jorian would not be more welcoming than he was last night."</p><p>Jon stared at her with a troubled expression. As he wouldn't say anything, she intended to open the door and at that moment he reacted, placing his hand on hers to stop her. Dany winced and so he removed it rapidly. </p><p>"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry," he repeated, in a lower tone. He was nervous. "I...What do I do when I am there? What do I say?"</p><p>Dany frowned, pondering the answer.</p><p>"Do you want them?"</p><p>He looked taken aback. </p><p>"What?"</p><p>She turned to face him with wide-open eyes as she once did, back in the day under the light of a torch in a cave.</p><p>"Do you want them sincerely, or do you want to do the right thing? Because they've come from inbreeding, as I do. Is that wrong for you still? Will you look at them as abominations? Because if this is the case, you can collect your sword, your sister's body, and leave so I can tell them someday their father died fighting like a brave warrior rather than condemning them to a life of cold treatment and scorn."</p><p>As if she had touched a nerve, Jon stood firmly and state, "Not at any time since I know of their existence I have thought such a thing of my own blood. I have killed my sister with the image of my children crying for their mother in my head. Not because is right, that it is, but because I love them and I always will even if I don't have the chance to redeem myself in their eyes and they end up hating me the rest of their lives. I love them because they are mine, I want them because they are mine. And someday, when the time comes, those who hurt them, <em>those</em> who edged me to inflict harm upon you and them, will die screaming."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (VIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>As he waited in the hallway, it seemed like hours until finally, Dany's soft voice called from the room. When it came, he wanted more time to think. He had barely cleaned the blood and grime he was carrying. Jon felt he hadn't properly prepared himself to see his children the first time.</p><p>He was hyperventilating, but in the end, he stepped forward and entered the room.</p><p>The roof truss raised it in a beak and the wood looked well polished, it made the room looked spacious and dim light with its yellow-cream painting on the walls, only accentuated the homelike sensation. </p><p>His eyes travel to the beautiful woman sitting on the bed with the girl on her lap, body covered with Dany's left arm, and the boy nestled beneath her right one.</p><p>When Jon walked in, Missella hid her face in her mother's chest, making sure Dany's long hair would keep her sheltered. Jon's heart clenched. </p><p>Jorian, the boy, <em>his</em> boy, let out a grunt and raised his wooden sword in Jon's direction. </p><p>Dany smiled and put a light kiss on the crown of his head.</p><p>"Put down your sword, soldier. The battle is over," she told him and the child obliged. "Jon is Papa. Kepa. He'd traveled long just to meet the both of you."</p><p>Jon paced in their direction, leaning on one of the poles of the bed, enthralled by the sight he never thought he would see. Children who he never dared to dream of having.</p><p>And Dany. Gods be damned or blessed, she was alive. He'd thought her so much, he dreamed of her every night and when the darkness of night would refuse to take him, all he'd see was her image. </p><p>He'd wronged her in all the ways but she's given him the chance to meet their children. </p><p>As he sat on the border, Jon promised himself he'd do his utmost to gain his family's love back and keeping them safe until his last breath, no matter who or what was the one to meddle.</p><p>"Jon comes from the Wall, isn't it?" Dany asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. </p><p>He nodded. </p><p>"Aye."</p><p>"What's <em>aye</em>?" the boy spoke first. Words coming weird out of his mouth. It was his accent. "Is it <em>truth</em> you've come from The Wall?"</p><p>Jon chuckled. </p><p>"Aye," he repeated. "It's the way we, people from the North and the Wall, say yes."</p><p>"Aye," the boy savored the word in his own tongue. "Aye, Mama," he told Dany, and she responded with a nod equally enthusiastic. She was rubbing Missella's back, and Jon caught a glimpse of the girl sneaking through her mother's hair. </p><p>"Where is the bad lady?" Jorian asked, making both Dany and Jon cringed. Their innocent son didn't know she was his aunt and was about to kidnap them. </p><p>"Your papa told her to go," Dany responded before he could even manage an answer. "You both are safe now. She will never return." And she said this last bit with her violet eyes placed directly toward his. The stare, long and intense, was a promise. "Jorian, show us your horse and your soldiers."</p><p>The boy, delighted, jumped out of the bed and went to find his toys. Meanwhile, Missella lifted her head completely out of Daenerys' locks and was staring at him with those same fierce amethyst eyes. </p><p>In Jorian's he noticed some of himself but with the girl was just impressive. The form of her eyes, nose, cheeks, and mouth. </p><p>He has to cut the visual contact when something pulled from the fabric of his pants. </p><p>Jorian put his toys at his feet and was waiting for Jon to join him on the floor. The bed moved when Dany stood up with their daughter in her arms and sat with Jorian down there. Jon did the same and there, the four of them listen to attentively the introduction of each toy.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"The Red Priestess of Volantis said my true purpose has not yet come into fruition. That my first life was just the beginning. Notwithstanding, they gave me a choice: live in the darkness and on the run with only the protection of the bracelet, or join their cause in Volantis. It was easy for me to refuse them and run away from there with my...<em>the</em> children. I fear that decision might be undone now."</p><p>The kids were taking a nap. She took Jon to the stables and they talked about what to do next. </p><p>"What happened in King's Landing, I do not remember it, but I can feel those souls searching for me in my dreams."</p><p>"I do understand you," Jon said. "It was-" he trailed off, surely not knowing if she would want to hear. </p><p>Dany squinted at him. </p><p>"Someday I will hear you but I don't need the recount. Not now."</p><p>"It wasn't your fault."</p><p>So he believes me, she thought.</p><p>"What would you have done if it hadn't been like that, Jon? If I had truly been the monster half the world believes me now?" she didn't shorten the distance between them, as they in the opposite side, but she could feel him so close. Almost like an instinct. "You said you came just for me. What were you expect me to do with you?"</p><p>This time, he squinted at the field in front of them.</p><p>"Killing me. Torture me. In the worst case, kicking me out of your life."</p><p>Dany scoffed.</p><p>"It seemed to me I was the one kicked out."</p><p>His eyes set on her again, conflicted and pained. </p><p>"To this day, I don't know how to explain my mistreatment, Dany. Life was a thing one day and then a whole different matter the next. I thought...we'd have more time to figure out what to do."</p><p>All those excuses, she already told herself in her mind. </p><p>"It was my fault," she said again, never flinching. "It was my fault to let this love cost me everything. I will not burden you with that "</p><p>"Dany-"</p><p>She walked in the direction of the house again, not before remarking, "Viserys also called me Dany before breaking my lip with his fist."</p><p>He grabbed her arm.</p><p>"Would you do it? Serve the Red Priestess, is that what you want? Then you shall have me there, in each war, in each battle."</p><p>Dany pulled away.</p><p>"I don't want your sword, Jon Snow! What I wanted from you, you couldn't give me. Or you didn't want to. But what I obtained from you is enough for me to never need something from you again."</p><p>"We can still be a family."</p><p>She shook her head. </p><p>"I know I gave you poor reasons but I love you, I will always will."</p><p>"Oh, Jon," she laughed, "Those words could've meant the world for me back then."</p><p>She turned around and entered the house, covering her nose from the insupportable smell. She took Longclaw with her back outside and threw it at his feet.</p><p>"Swear it to me. In the name of your gods, if it's necessary - as far as I know they are all just children's tales, for the death is only darkness and its terrors." She asserted, a shiver running down her spine when she saw him collecting the sword, thrusting it onto the ground and bending the knee. "Swear that no matter what may come, our children will always come first. Now and always."</p><p>She expected him to hesitate but he did not.</p><p>"I swear it." </p><p>After a moment of silence, she attempted to move to the next point by going for the items in the stable when he added, "I was speaking seriously, Dany. When we were inside." </p><p>She did not believe him but anyway she nodded. </p><p>"Better start off by doing me a favor," she went and took the oil for the lamps. She calculated it'd be enough. "Burn this place to the ground."</p><p>That night, Ser Willem's house, the house she had idealized all her life and in which she lost her childhood, burned down. Along with the peace she thought she could pursue and the protection for her children.</p><p>Arya Stark's body also burned inside.</p><p>As they left behind the fire, with the children safely secured beneath the fabrics and embraced to their mother, both Dany and Jon watched the last traces of their innocence disappear.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A place to call home.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>4.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He heard a voice mumbling and all his senses awakened. After leaving the fields, they settled momentarily in the city. Dany used her own coin to rent out a place which made Jon felt uncomfortable until he remembered she's been surviving with two children all on her own. At this point, he's nothing to offer her but his sword and his loyalty. And even without this, he suspected she would find a way out for she's, above all, a survivor.</p><p>Jon opened an eye first to make sure if it was an intruder that he or she would not notice it. Dany and the children took the main bedroom and he, of course, settled in the couchen at the foyer.</p><p>A dim light peeked through the window, as his sight focused two pairs of legs trying to reach the sweets hidden above the counter. </p><p>Leading the early mischief was Jorian. Little Missella, still with thumb in mouth, observed her brother carrying out the misdeed, glimpsing at the room's door every now and then to check her mother would not awake, without realizing that Jon was observing them, enthralled. </p><p>Jorian finally reached the spoil and with two little jumps, he got down to the floor and shared the cake with his sister. Both siblings sat on the floor and ate in silent complicity. </p><p>After they finished, both try to hide their crime by weeping their mouth with their hands and hiding the crumbs beneath the furniture. Jon believed they were extremely clever at their young age, and he couldn't feel more proud of the fierce loyalty with each other. </p><p>He wondered if someday they'll share some of that with him. </p><p>After their returned to Dany, he stood up and cleaned the mess, making sure to take the crumbs out of their mother's sight.</p><p>It shouldn't come as a surprise how well Dany played the role of mother. Since those days of their past shared life, she was always incredibly attentive to everyone around her. The dragons and the free men she released considered her a mother. Mhysa if he remembers well. This was a fate that fit perfectly. And she deserved it.</p><p>As she made breakfast for the children - refusing to receive any help, Jon silently recalled the times she mentioned that she could never have children because a murderous witch had prophesied it to her. The first time she told him that was after Viserion's death, announcing with tear-filled eyes that the dragons were the only children she would ever have.</p><p>And she lost two of her three dragon children. Now she had two of flesh and blood. <em>Their</em> children.</p><p>He never thought he'd have them as he never believed she couldn't, so he took care of himself the first times they shared a bed. Only while he could have a little control over himself when he was with her, self-control he went losing the more it happened as he never stopped looking for her until they reached Winterfell. And he probably would have kept doing it if it hadn't been for that revelation that turned his world upside down. Then it was Dany who was constantly trying to reach him, and contrary to him, she received a null response. </p><p>If it weren't for the pressing situation they were in, Jon would force her to sit down and talk about them, but those feelings were far below her priorities, for good reason. She has treated him properly and cordially, even serving him honey-sweetened, fruitless porridge as he preferred it as if all the pain and inconclusive story between them was in the least bit relevant to her right now.</p><p>It could've made more sense if things have been different - if he could place some fault in her but she was the greatest victim. He killed her while she got the mind poisoned, out of an guided by the mislead and malice of the people that when saw no more use for him, they send him off.</p><p>How could she be so calm? How could she not take Drogon and return to kill everyone that hurt her, even to him? </p><p>It frustrated Jon, even more, to realize that her indifference was a silent punishment for him. She saw no sense in questioning the unquestionable, so she let it be with the rest. </p><p>"It's done? but you've barely eaten. Are you well? Something hurt you?"</p><p>Her outraged tone startled him and Jon turned to see what was happening at the table, from his place in the couchen. </p><p>No one answered her and he saw how his son averted her mother's eyes while the girl smiled with a finger clung between her teeth. They've spoiled their breakfast, of course.</p><p>Dany stood up and walked toward the counter, wearing an earnest expression for them. Jon watched every reaction in the room with wide-open eyes.</p><p>"I'm sure there were five cakes last night. And now there's only four," she said, peeking beneath the napkin that covered the sweets. "Jorian, Missella, have you already eaten?"</p><p>They both stared distressed but in silence at their mother.</p><p>"Actually, it's my fault," Jon interjected in the conflict, clearing his throat and looking embarrassed. "I eat the cake last night after you went to sleep."</p><p>She was taken aback by his sudden interruption and returned a suspicious look in his direction. </p><p>"Fine," she stated, succinctly. To be a small person she imposed herself as a firm authority even today in that little room, Jon though. "You are dismissed," she told them and they jumped out of their sits to go back into the room and started their playing day.</p><p>Jon stood up and walked to the kitchen to clean his bowl. Dany was still standing beside the piece of furniture, eyes set on the vacuum space. He glimpsed her and she looked lost.</p><p>"We can't go to Volantis," she said.</p><p>He stopped doing what he was doing and turned around, leaning his back against the lavatory. He was frankly surprised. </p><p>"Why?"</p><p>Daenerys paced to the room until she reached the window's frame and she beheld the view outside. </p><p>"They don't know about anything at all. I never even told them they were supposed to have a father. Least who they are and where they come from." She supported herself against the crystal, hands clapped at her front. Jon couldn't help but wondered how she looked when she was heavy with his children. It must've been the most wondrous sight. "They are very little to understand how the world we live in works. That's why I ran away from Volantis. War has only burdened me with losses. Jorah, Ser Barristan, Missandei, my people, my children...even at the beginning of all of this, when my husband promised me the Seven Kingdoms, I lost him and my first child." She shut her eyes and he felt the urge to come closer but refrained from doing so. She winced the last time he touched her. "War is always about losing, even when one is on the winning side. The Iron Throne was meant to make me feel closer to the family I never had, and apparently it only led me to fall dead in the arms of the only family I had left." She frowned at something. "Or might I focused on the wrong direction, and family was the people that stood with me when they have better options, the people that willingly walked into war because of my empty desire." At any time she hesitated or break. She was resilient in a way that only made him grown anger towards the people that ever hurt her and himself for allowing it. "In any case, Jorian and Missella are only kids. They are not burden with a name they don't ask for. In their little world, wars and battles are just stories and songs. I've already planned living an existence in peace, giving thanks to the immense opportunity to have them, and perhaps when they grew up, explain everything to them and pray that they will never want to reclaim their legacy. Absurd, isn't it? That me, of all the people, would want something of the sort."</p><p>Jon looked in the direction of the room where their children were, unaware of this delicate subject. He took a deep breath and with abandon, he spilled out his thoughts.</p><p>"What I do believe is that denying them from the truth of who they are is cruel and more if it comes from someone they love and respect. You are everything for them. I see how they look at you and my guts churn with jealousy and longing for experiencing that kind of devotion. Do not stain that pure sentiment with lies. I implore you." The more he spoke, the more he lost his forbearance and Jon found himself walking in her direction. She straightened up, listen to him intently. "I've committed mistakes, several, and great ones. I'll devote every day of the remainder of my life to earning your forgiveness, even if I am sure that I will never be worthy of it."</p><p>"I do not resent you for killing me, I told you. I would have preferred that rather be the monster they made me."</p><p>Jon was no sure if telling her about how things came to be. How he did it in an intimate moment. She did not remember their last conversation and has warned him to never speak about that unless she asked him to.</p><p>"Killing you was only the peak of all the pile of misdeeds with which I wronged you, Dany," he cleared his throat, hating that the reminder of her abusive brother would stain that for them always. "Daenerys." </p><p>Her scowling did not soften at any time but her tense stance defused.</p><p>"I ought to apologize for my hostile reaction when you shared the truth. And for trying to coax you in keeping it a secret to the world. The moment I stepped  in your homeland, and I only found mistreatment, I enclosed myself in the only certainty I have left at that point: that I was destined, that my fight was not in vain." She shut her eyes again and Jon noticed she did it each time some hurtful memory crossed her mind. "The moment I knew it I should've stepped aside and left that land with my people."</p><p>He couldn't bear it. </p><p>"Can I...?" he attempted to approach. Dany's eyebrows jumped and eyes widened before nodding slowly but leaving his head down. He went closer and cupped her face, stroking each cheek and feeling her soft skin for the first time after the day he killed her. He'd dreamed many times over about this small gesture. He looked for eyes but she denied him of this, rather staring longingly at the empty space behind him. Hopelessly she was. "I don't know if you were meant to be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but I know one thing for certain and that is that you are not like anyone else. And you were right when you told me Sansa would've used me against you, and I hated her. I couldn't forgive her. And I couldn't forgive the ones who did what I did to you." He breathed in again, knowing that what he was about to tell her will only just pushed her further away. "That day I-"</p><p>In a blink of an eye, she closed her hands on his wrist, removing his hold off of her. She retreated from him, walking backward. </p><p>"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear anything about that day. I am what they did of me and there's nothing I can do to fight it. No matter what I have done here in Essos, it is all lost because I chose to serve a land that didn't want me from the beginning. My legacy here is gone, in Westeros is stained. I'm better off dead." She passed him by and went to search for something in the only chest she brought from her former home. She took parchment and ink and sat back. "We can't go to Volantis because it means war. War means losing. I'm not willing to lose my children or leaving them in this world alone." She sighed again and rubbed her brow. "My enemies are certain of one thing: Essos is the only place I know enough to find shelter. Here is where I have lived, fight, and hide for many years. They'll be looking for me in each city, in each corner. Our heads will never reach Volantis above our shoulders."</p><p>"Dany, I won't let any of them get to you," he went to kneel in front of her, this time his hands above her lap, trying to bring some reassurance and not bring back old, stained memories. "<em>None</em> of them," he reaffirmed.</p><p>"You killed her. Your sister," she said in a shy whisper. "I'm sorry you have to do it, and I am grateful for not be just a memory in the mind of my children now. But when you raised your sword I thought you were about to incapacitate her. Why you killed her?"</p><p>Jon blinked, taken aback. </p><p>"I don't think she would've left you alone. I don't think there's any peace to do with them." </p><p>Dany twitched her lips. </p><p>"Is that what happened to me? There was no more peace to make?" </p><p>He opened his mouth to say everything but she shook her head.</p><p>"It doesn't matter."</p><p>"Dany..."</p><p>"It doesn't matter!" she snapped. "Just let it go. Nothing we do will take back anything that happened."</p><p>"You are alive. Our children are alive." She shrugged, leaving him word in mouth and starting to write in her parchment as Jon suspected she did every single day. "Are you writing to someone?" he asked her. </p><p>"Yes," she answered. "To myself."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (VIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He never stayed alone with the children if she was not present, not because Dany had forbidden him but because he had insisted on what to or say otherwise. Dany suspected that he was just as scared or more than the kids were that night, and was not surprised with it, she had been scared of them from the first moment she knew they were growing inside her.</p><p>And the fear only got worse as time went on.</p><p>"You <em>knowed</em> Ser Jorah?" Jorian asked in bewilderment when Jon revealed he met the flesh and bone person for whom the soldier was named. "Mama, he <em>knowed</em> Ser Jorah!"</p><p>Dany smiled, she was in the corner with Missella hiding behind her legs. She was still wary of Jon and would witness the conversation only from afar in the safe shelter of her mother's embrace. </p><p>"He <em>knew</em> Ser Jorah, yes he did," Dany corrected and affirmed. She traced her hands on Missella unruly curls that were the same ones of her father's. She was worried because her daughter hadn't spoken a single word since that day. "Missella, don't you want to sing a song for Papa? About Ser Jorah or the Butterfly Lady?" </p><p>The girl shook her head vehemently and clung even more to the fabric of the dress Daenerys was wearing. </p><p>"It's okay, Missella, he's Papa. Come!"</p><p>Dany startled when she heard her son calling Jon that way for the first time. He hadn't done it yet.</p><p>Jon was equally shocked. Speechless. </p><p>The boy had abandoned all reluctance towards him by the time he revealed that he was a soldier. Since then Jorian had obfuscated Jon with all sorts of questions, always in the fine line of his innocent notion of war. Jon was careful to answer with abstractions and keep talking to him about the Wall. On one occasion he mentioned his direwolf Ghost and he had to provide a description of what a wolf was.</p><p>"It's like a big dog that lives in the forests between the snow."</p><p>"How big he is?"</p><p>Jon hesitated before taking the wooden horse. </p><p>"Like a horse."</p><p>"I want to see him! Mama, I want to see Papa's big dog."</p><p>Dany supposed he couldn't correctly say "<em>wolf"</em> and she wondered if she could get a book with more information about them. Herself and her stories were a limited source of information for her children. </p><p>Jon chuckled and kept fidgeting with the horse on his hands. </p><p>She has been avoiding staring at them too much because her eyes tended to stay too long seeing each reaction of his, to the point that she was captivated by the image. She had ruled out that one day her children would meet Jon and vice versa. Mainly because he didn't want them, at least not with her. When she remembered that, she sighed and looked away.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you," he said, surprised when she put the cup of tea in front of him. </p><p>"Your welcome," she answered, going to the other side of the table to continue with her writing. </p><p>There was a time when Jon would look at her as he was right there - "longingly" was the term Tyrion used, and she would enjoy as a sort of amusement. Later, it had become in something exciting, because it held a secret that at least for a time was only theirs. Then, he avoided her or saw her with fear. </p><p>Right now, she felt uncomfortable but was doing her best to swallow it all and continue as if everything was normal. Her new normal.</p><p>She would have to learn to live with his guilty gaze for the children's sake. </p><p>Jon sucked in a deep breath. </p><p>"You can't tolerate me," he said. </p><p>Startled, she raised her head. </p><p>"What?"</p><p>"I'm sorry it has to be this way," he continued, "If it could be a way to make sure you will be safe without me in the middle, even if it would destroy me, I would walk away and leave you alone."</p><p>"Jon-" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. </p><p>"I was thinking about what you said today about your enemies being certain of your next move." He made a pause, drinking his tea. "There's one place they will never suspect you will go."</p><p>She gave him her attention.</p><p>"Which place?"</p><p>"Beyond the Wall."</p><p>There was silence in the room for a long moment before she had snapped, "No. There's no way I'll seclude myself in the kingdom of your sister. If anything, your North is where I have endured the worst moments of my life."</p><p>He swallowed and nodded.</p><p>"Exactly that's what Tyrion will think. What Bran, if there's still a Bran, will think. That's what Sansa will think."</p><p>She was breathing hard, all the anger of the situation they were in and that she had been suppressing, now exploding on the surface.</p><p>"That's your sister's domain. Might Arya would've spared Jorian and Missella's lives but take for certain your bitch of a sister will not."</p><p>"The lands Beyond the Wall do not belong to any kingdom!" he stated, realizing how loud he was and lowering his tone. "Look, Dany. Let me explain it. There's a conflict there right now. No person of the Kingdoms get pass Beyond the Wall and the wildlings only cross south to raid. I was living in a small settlement, mostly people that never get to know you and will not recognize you now that you hair...is dark. Our children have dark hair-"</p><p>"Jorian does not. I dyed it as mine."</p><p>He was taken aback, perhaps even disappointed, she couldn't read through him with her own mind on fire.</p><p>"Doesn't that hurt him?" was his concern, actually. "In any case, he is my son. He could've got it from my side too."</p><p>Dany scoffed, though he was right. If he ever got children with another woman, they'd be Targaryen on their own right because of their father. </p><p>She tried to calm down.</p><p>"How do we get there without crossing your sister's kingdom, Jon? Sure in White Harbor people will recognize me. Recognize <em>you</em>."</p><p>"The man who brought me here is Ser Davos' friend, I'm sure he knows how to sail to the lands Beyond the Wall, without crossing my sister's domain. His fleet served Stannis Baratheon once." </p><p>"And then what? Do we live there how many? Where do we go when they eventually realize I am there? We have no armies, not allies for most of the world we are both dead."</p><p>"And it should stay like that," he said, firmly. "For the time the children are little. I'm sure when they are older, they can figure things out for themselves but now we have to put their safety first even when it means to put ourselves in difficult positions."</p><p>She laughed bitterly.</p><p>"How is it difficult for you when you get to be in the place you love, with the people that venerate you?"</p><p>"Do you think that's what matters for me?"</p><p>"You never gave reasons to believe otherwise, you said it yourself. The first time I heard about your fate, I wasn't surprised because deep down I always knew you wanted that."</p><p>"Is it wrong?"</p><p>"It's wrong to make people believe you want to be by their side when all you are doing is motivated by a skewed sense of duty."</p><p>"Fine. You know what? Let's be honest with each other, right now. I never wanted a throne, my maddest fantasies were becoming Lord of Winterfell because I was jealous of my brother, I used to dream about my father coming and telling me he will give me his name. I went to the Night's Watch to make him proud so people won't look at me, all my life, as a stain in his honor. Those were the ambitions I had before everything have become about survival. Then, I wanted to stop the Army of the Dead and The Night King." He looked for her eyes, but she couldn't bear them. "And then I wanted you."</p><p>Her heart skipped a beat and she winced.</p><p>"I wanted you to make the North your home so you will stay with me. I want my family to accept you, my people to see in you what I saw."</p><p>"Then you find out the truth and suddenly all you wanted to do was running away and hide." She knew that the trembling gestures on her body revealed that behind her pretense, there was still too much to say. "Running away and hide is everything I have done when I was a child, dreaming of a home of a family I would never find."</p><p>Silence again, before he had stood from his place and wend his way to her. </p><p>She shook her head when he knelt beside her and tried to grab a hand with his.</p><p>He sighed, defeated, but say, "We can still have it. If you find in yourself the strength to love me again and have me, we can still have a future."</p><p>Finally, Dany turned her face and speak with eyes set on his.</p><p>"I cannot love anybody but my children. I will never love again." She stood up and passed him by toward her room. At the door's frame, she stopped and turned around, looking at him who was already standing, pointedly. "I know they ate that cake."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany thought about Jon's proposal all night, or rather the conversation they had. As she lay there, with each child occupying one of her arms, she wondered if perhaps she should give in and do her best for them. Not about going North, but about form a family with him.</p><p>She has been honest when she said that she does not want to love again. Not to anyone other than their children. Men in her life have only brought her sorrow somehow. </p><p>The next day she approached him with a decision taken.</p><p>"You right," she told him. "We'll go North."</p><p>And it was everything she could resolve for the moment. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (X)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Captain Salladhor Saan? Is he Davos' friend and you came with him?" </p><p>Dany asked, totally stunned. At the moment he pointed out the galley that would take them to Westeros. She was with Missella in tow, the little girl not speaking yet and avoiding her father's gaze, while Jon was holding Jorian by the hand. </p><p>"Do you know him?"</p><p>"He is one of my clients," she answered, and before he could get the wrong impression, she added, "I made some robes for him."</p><p>So Dany was the one who did those colorful, quirky attires. He didn't even know she could make clothes.</p><p>Suddenly, he remembered that day at the docks. The mother with the two children he thought Salladhor's family.</p><p>Jon felt a fool. </p><p>"Let me speak with him, first," Jon said, apprehensive of the information the captain held with him. </p><p>When he approached the Valyrian, Salladhor was on the main bridge looking at him with an aggrieved face. </p><p>"John Smith," he greeted him. </p><p>"Captain," he returned. He hesitated, seeing the man troubled. "Might I need a last favor from you."</p><p>He scoffed, looking at the sea beyond them. He then announced Jon something he never thought he would hear.</p><p>"They killed Davos."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Is this too much drama? Fuck it, I can't avoid it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A winter day that never fades.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't know why I messed the name Jarl for Jeff (? lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p><strong>5</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>When the seedy bounty hunter Bronn hired threw the heads of platinum blonde women onto his desk table, Grand Maester Samwell Tarly got up and went out to puke. Tyrion stared at each lifeless, wide-eyed face. He could see the serious eyes of the late Tywin Lannister mocking him.</p><p>The Essosi sun-tanned man made a gesture of exasperation, pointing to the table and saying something in a language that Tyrion had to sharpen his ear too much to finish deciphering.</p><p>Bronn spared him the effort:</p><p>"He says they all claimed to be the resurrected dragon queen. And just in case, he killed them all."</p><p>And before killing them, he took his time with them, Tyrion was certain.</p><p>A part of him also wanted to be Samwell Tarly and have the luxury of running to the backyard and vomiting.</p><p>"Remind me, Bronn, where in the seven hells was that empty head of yours on the day of the meeting with the King?" Tyrion snapped at his Master of Coin. A merely nominative title, because Bronn knew nothing of finances and had earned his position by extorting him. "Daenerys has dark hair!" </p><p>"No," Bronn was brave enough to object. "She had platinum hair, I remember it well. Her and her fuckin' dragon!"</p><p>Tyrion ordered his guards to remove the rotting heads from his desk and burn them, making sure no one saw such horror.</p><p>He took a sack of coins from his desk and handed them over to the assassin of poor platinum hair prostitutes, which started to protest again because it was not the promised price until other guards forcibly taken him out.</p><p>"You're a son of a bitch, Bronn," said the Lannister dwarf, jumping into his chair. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in despair. They had several organizations behind Daenerys in Essos but no one had been able to find her yet. "The next time you make me lose the coins instead of bringing them to me-"</p><p>"You what? What are you going to do? You know perfectly well that we are in this together, wretched son of a bitch. To the end," he said, raising a goblet of wine in his direction and taking it to the bottom. "So if the dragon queen now has dark hair, she shouldn't be much different than any other woman in Essos."</p><p>Samwell Tarly reentered the room with his chains clinking with each step. Tyrion frowned at him, how the hell does a Grand Mastre have only two chains? Nothing was working properly in the kingdoms in those days.</p><p>"This morning I sent a missive to Her Majesty in the North, with His Majesty's permission, of course, to inform her of Arya Stark's death," he announced, still pale and afflicted. Bloody useless, Tyrion thought bitterly. "The entire Realm should be in mourning. Arya was the hero of Winterfell."</p><p>A title Daenerys had given her, Tyrion remembered well even though Randyll Tarly's fat son had forgotten.</p><p>"I'm sure everyone in the Realm is going to toast on her behalf today," Tyrion said sarcastically, knowing that no one gave a damn about the Stark girl. Or well, perhaps the Lord of Storm's End did, though he was now married and procreating heirs to his nearly extinct house. "Gentlemen, this battle is lost. Our only alternative is to sit and wait to see how on one of these days, perhaps even in the twilight hours, the sky falls upon us as we contemplate the end of this nonsense."</p><p>"No!" Samwell snapped, "I refuse to accept this as our end," and after swallowing hard and clenching his hands nervously, he said, "I think we have to convince Jon to help us. He was the only one who could do it the first time."</p><p>Tyrion let out a huff.</p><p>"To be a scholar you are too fantasy-prone, Samwell. If Daenerys ever returns to Westeros, I assure you his frozen arse will be the first to burn." He took a sip of his own wine and cocked his head. "If that didn't happen already."</p><p>"And what do we know about the good Ser Davos?" Bronn interrupted with a question that churned Tyrion's stomach. Suddenly he had no desire to drink.</p><p>Samwell also hesitated in giving his answer.</p><p>"Queen Sansa's last letter informed us that the work was done." Taciturn Samwell added, "I think it wasn't fair. We shouldn't have done it."</p><p>Even Bronn looked down.</p><p>"It was his majesty's orders. And the king's word is unquestionable," Tyrion stated, though he did not believe it was that way. But since the windows were open and the birds were flying in the air, everyone nodded.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She made sure that the children were warm at all times as they traveled to their destination. Captain Salladhor, even though Daenerys had flatly refused, had ceded his cabin to her and the children.</p><p>At first, they got sick from the sudden change in environment and she locked in the cabin with them while making sure to help them adjust. Jon, who was still processing the news he received, had forgotten about it for the time being and helped Daenerys at all times. She was afraid of getting used to needing his aid, but she wouldn't deny that it felt good to have another pair of hands caring for two sick children.</p><p>Still, when she stared at him, she could feel him tense and stuck in his own thoughts. The little she knew - and was not surprised, was that notifying Jon of her location had cost Ser Davos his life.</p><p>She understood his pain.</p><p>One night, after he finished wrapping and accommodating Jorian, she did something she had been thinking of doing for days but had not mustered the courage to do it until then.</p><p>"Jon," she called him out when he was on his way towards the door. "You should sleep here."</p><p>He returned her a somewhat embarrassed look as if she was asking him for something wrong. Either he was too cautious yet and did not want to take advantage of Salladhor's kindnesses, or it was his conflicting feelings rising from the back of his mind.</p><p>"The couchen, Jon," Dany spared him the discomfort, as she always did. "I'm going to bring you some furs. I'll need your help when he wakes in the middle of the night."</p><p>She planned to invite him to the bed, he with Jorian on one side and she with Missella on the other. There was nothing intimate about that. Especially since Jorian and his night movements would give him an extra dose of parenthood to swallow.</p><p>When she returned, he was sitting, with his arms on his knees, looking at his hands and absorbed in his rumination.</p><p>Dany sighed, tossing the furs by his side. </p><p>"I'm sorry about what happened with Ser Davos, Jon," she said, staring at her own hands. "I wish he hadn't taken that risk."</p><p>She received a scoff as a response and she couldn't understand why.</p><p>"A risk?" he replied, "Dany, they killed Davos for telling me about you. Who these people are? It shouldn't-" he trailed off.</p><p>"It shouldn't what?" she asked, curious.</p><p>He didn't answer at first, holding her stare for a long moment before averting it and sighing. </p><p>"One person told me once that I know nothing, and she was right."</p><p>She wondered who could've said that to him. What woman. She wasn't going to ask him but something about the way he commented it, it made it seemed it was someone significant in his life. Perhaps Sansa or Arya? </p><p>"The last time I saw Bran he told me I always been in the place I should be, I thought he meant throughout the years. But now it was not Bran talking to me, anymore."</p><p>Daenerys didn't know what to say. The Red Priestess warned her about the Three-Eyed Raven's magic but she always thought it has to do with the fact she was seen as a threat to them after what happened in King's Landing. </p><p>Jorian started moving and Jon jolted.</p><p>"Don't worry," she told him, holding him by the arm in an instinctive move. She rapidly removed her hand. "He does that all the time. That's why I always sleep in the middle of them, so he won't wake or hit his sister."</p><p>"He always does that?" Jon repeated her words. "He shouldn't. He can hurt you or Missella."</p><p>"He's just a child, Jon," she reassured, standing to go to the folding screen and start changing into her nightgown. </p><p>As she changed, he kept talking to her.</p><p>"I have noticed that he is quite restless."</p><p>She sharpened her ear, trying to discern whether it was an observation or a criticism.</p><p>"Troublesome, yes," she agreed.</p><p>"I didn't mean it like that."</p><p>She didn't answer. </p><p>"Do they had friends of their ages?"</p><p>Dany sighed. </p><p>"It's not easy. I do not trust even in other children."</p><p>She remembered the time in Astapor when a child set her up in a trap of the Warlocks and Ser Barristan rescued her.</p><p>"Do you mind if-" he trailed off when she got out of the screen and in direction of the bed. </p><p>"What thing?"</p><p>Jon avoided to stared at her and squirm in the couchen. Dany blinked confused and look down at her gown, it was similar to the one she wore the night he saved her from his sister. </p><p>"I would like to train him," he continued, now lying on his back and looking at the ceiling. </p><p>Of course, he would suggest that, Dany thought, climbing onto the bed and beneath the furs. The weather harsher than the night before.</p><p>"We are in a boat heading to your precious North, Jon. Gods' know for how long. You don't need to ask for my permission for any single thing that concerns them."</p><p>He did not speak for a long time and she thought he was already asleep, so she blew the last burning candle.</p><p>"Do not dye his hair, anymore," he stated.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"So," Captain Salladhor spoke. "A dragon queen made my clothes. Allow me to boast about it."</p><p>The man connected the dots by himself the moment Daenerys walked behind Jon with the children. <em>Little Dany</em>, he used to call her because with two children it was impossible to lie about her name. He had looked at Jon, to her, and to Jon again and made the connection instantly. </p><p>"I am a queen no more," she corrected him.</p><p>"And I wonder why?"</p><p>Dany was again speechless. What kind of queen could she be if she no longer had anything or anyone? That is the question that she asked herself many times in the Temple of the Red God, wishing to be dead again.</p><p>Not finding his answer, Salladhor leaned back in his chair and watched his two guests with intrigue.</p><p>"Then I suppose rumor has it wrong. You did not kill her. You let her escape."</p><p>She did not know at the time what would sound worse, to tell him that she fled or that she had returned from death.</p><p>"And I must also assume that old Davos knew about all this. What I don't understand is why he is now dead. He worked for the crippled king." In his own reasoning was the answer. "Unless the fuckin' bastards are giving a good price for your head and I am wasting time, money, and even risking my life."</p><p>Both, Daenerys and Jon, stared at each other with concern.</p><p>"Just answer this to me, why the crippled king wants your head and not the other way around? The firestorm you brought to Westeros with your dragon was enough to bring every person in the Known World to their knees."</p><p>Dany winced and looked away. </p><p>"Captain Saan," Jon interrupted, "We don't want to bring any woe to you or your crew. If you and Davos were true friends, give us safe passage to Eastwatch and take this secret to your grave. Don't let his death be in vain."</p><p>Salladhor scoffed, mulling over the words of Jon. </p><p>"I'll tell you something. Only because of Old Davos and because I hate that Lannister imp with all my being and someday I want to see him and the crippled king burn," he said with so much despise that made her wonder what Tyrion could've doing - probably messing things up. His expression turned serious though, when he focused on Dany. "And because I respect you, little Dany. You and your children." </p><p>Daenerys still didn't feel safe just with his word but she told herself that, already at his mercy in his ship, they had no choice but to settle with that answer.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (I)</strong>
</p><p>She choked back a cry of pain as the healer bent her leg to her chest, and took a deep breath as she had been practicing the last moons. Meanwhile, she looked at the ceiling and tried to count every texture, flaw, or anything that made her mind fly away from the pain of her body, something that the same woman who now helped her with her illness had taught her in the times she was married to Ramsey Bolton.</p><p>Every morning was martyrdom. A thorny path that she had to cross barefoot before entering her court, also full of thorns and sharp knives which, if she did not take care of, she ran the risk of letting them cutting and bleeding her to death on the cold ground, without family or allies near. </p><p>"This is the last one, your grace," Hali said, stretching his leg and bending it again. This time she allowed herself to let tears slide down the sides of her face and fall onto the soft sheet of her bed in the Lord of Winterfell's room that belonged to her parents many years ago.</p><p>When the sessions ended, Queen Sansa washed her face and pretended that nothing had happened. She wore a dress with a bulky skirt that would diminish her now-notorious limp, and she pretended with the coldest face she could wear, that she did not feel miserable and unhappy. </p><p>When he reached the Great Hall, her men received her on their knees as they did every day since she had become Queen of an independent North. That distant day full of expectations and good omens contrasted with the dire present.</p><p>In front of her throne, stood the faithful and loyal Captain Harrell Gallark, the only person besides Maester Wolkan and her lady healers and handmaids, who Sansa trusted.</p><p>The dark-haired knight with the charming smile, exactly the kind of prince she read in her stories when a child, turned and bent his knee in front of her.</p><p>The first time she took note of his existence, Sansa knew that she had to be careful with his type, always willing to do anything to earn her affection.</p><p>It was not easy to find allies after everything that had happened and what they had faced. Harrell understood, like her, that sometimes fear was the only way and he did not question the use of it now that she was going through a difficult time. Any demonstration of weakness on her part could be the key to the desertion of her vassals, always prone to insurrection.</p><p>Robb had been weak.</p><p>Jon had been weak.</p><p>Sansa couldn't indulge herself to be weak.</p><p>She nodded at him and walked over to sit on her throne.</p><p>"I hope the White Harbor commission was carried out discreetly," she warned him, lowering her voice a bit so that others would not hear. She had confirmed to Bran that everything would be done as he had ordered. It was a disgrace that Ser Davos chose to be a traitor, and she did not want to give him a painful death. "And the way I asked you to."</p><p>He gave her one of those crooked, gallant smiles that rolled her eyes as well as a slight tickle in her belly. Never anything that would make her even think of inviting him to her bed.</p><p>"My queen, your orders were executed in a timely manner. I will never fail my word. But that is not the urgent matter that we must attend to today."</p><p>Sansa swallowed hard and nodded. Every day, a new thorn in the rose bush.</p><p>"Then speak, Harrell. Don't waste my time."</p><p>He was not surprised to hear of another altercation with the wildlings on the border of the Wall. That group of savages would never be accepted by the Lords of the North, she did not even know what went through Jon's head when he left those signed documents giving them lands in the Gift. Of course, she threw them into the fire almost the second he left as a lap dog behind his aunt's madness.</p><p>If it were up to Sansa, she would muster the Northern army just to regain control of the wall, but in the lousy conditions of the kingdom, they were not at the right time to deal with another war.</p><p>She had given the titles and lands of the Mormonts, Karkstarks, and Umbers to whom they had always shown their loyalty to House Stark. However, their allies found these lands looted and razed.</p><p>"Some of them offered us a truce out of respect for the old alliance with Jon Snow."</p><p>"Truce?" Sansa scoffed. "Truce to what?"</p><p>He pursed his lips.</p><p>"Your majesty, their advances are inevitable. Not only are they with their menfolk, but also our own peasants are beginning to join them at not receiving a response from the crown."</p><p>Sansa tapped her fingers on each one of the throne's armrests.</p><p>"Very well," she played it down. A hungry group of peasants were enough for a revolt but never for war. In the back of her mind, she could remember Cersei bragging about it. "I delegate you as my representative at that meeting."</p><p>The man hesitated.</p><p>"What, Harrell?" she asked, this time exasperated. The pains in her legs began to return. And it was only the beginning of her daily activities.</p><p>"If I may be given my humble opinion. We should summon Jon Snow and show our people that-"</p><p><em>No</em>, there was no way she was going to allow  Jon to be dragged back to this as if she were a little child that needed to be rescued.</p><p>"No one has known anything about Jon for years. Probably my brother, as much as it hurts me, is dead. Also, he is a deserter. My duty is to order his execution immediately if I see him again, and therefore, I do not want to see him again." She saw Master Wolkan rushing in and knew the news had arrived. "Now go talk to those savages. Reach an agreement, but be clear with them. The Kingdom in the North is not going to allow their territory to be further undermined. I'm sure they don't want to wage war either."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Eastwatch by the Sea</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>Before getting down to the boat that would take them to the shores of Eastwatch, Salladhor hold his arm and said in a low tone, "I hope you don't let his death be in vain either."</p><p>Jon returned a nod. Throughout the journey, he had circled the same thought several times.</p><p>Already in the boat, Daenerys, who had covered the children in fur and coats almost in an exaggerated way, spoke to them in Valyrian pointing out to The Wall, which from there could be seen on the horizon somewhat blurred as it was covered in fog.</p><p>"If I look at it, will it break my neck as Captain Saan said?" Jorian asked, awkwardly moving through so many layers. Jon could begin to see traces of the natural silver of his hair.</p><p>"No," both parents replied at the same time. They looked at each other and Dany added, "Tell them."</p><p>She was giving him the place to be the one to explain things to them. Usually, she was always a voice present in the background of his conversations with Jorian. Jon didn't mind and understood, but he appreciated the gesture at the time.</p><p>He told his son everything he knew. </p><p>Of course, the cold weather was less than the last time Dany was there, but anyway, their son began to complain that it was too cold and that after seeing the wall and Ghost, he wanted to go home.</p><p>Dany winced again and it did not go unnoticed by him. Missella was huddled on her chest, gazing toward the shore with curiosity. The cold seemed not to discourage her. </p><p>There was a guard of wildlings there settled. On the shore, a group of twenty perhaps were waiting for them.  surprised but not intimidated, they were people who Jon knew and, he wanted to think, respected him. A breath of relief rushed through his body when he saw Munda among them, Tormund's eldest daughter.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"You didn't need to cross an entire sea to steal a woman. We have plenty!" A man called Karl spat in protest towards him. He was furious about something Jon didn't know yet. "We've been needing you 'round here, Crow."</p><p>He waited for their reaction before presenting Dany. Most of them did not recognize her, only Munda who kept in silence and waited for him to give her a sign. </p><p>"The farthest we steal the better, didn't you preach?" Jon answered, resting importance to the matter. He didn't need to explain too much. "Now, why my presence was required? If it has to do with the affairs here with the Northerners, I told you I will not join any side."</p><p>"You have to! You belong to this side! You chose it!" </p><p>Around them, the other wildlings nodded in unison and raised their voices to question his loyalty. What he least needed was to get into this mess when he had Dany and the children behind him. However, it did not escape Jon that there was also some truth in his statement about supporting the free folk's side: keeping any intruder from the kingdoms, like his sister, Tyrion, and the others, as far away as possible for as long as necessary.</p><p>"Jarl and Tormund will meet a man from your sister, the red-haired queen, at Castle Black. They want you to be there to show them that Jon Snow is on our side," one woman, Berta he believed she was called, explained it better than Karl.</p><p>So Sansa was negotiating now, he thought. </p><p>"What terms are you going to offer? As long as I know all you do is plunder the lands of her kingdom. There's no way she will give in and let you keep going."</p><p>"We want lands. We want ships and we want those ships to sail freely."</p><p>"That's not how it works, Karl. It's not just my sister's kingdom."</p><p>Without the Night's Watch and having seized The Wall, the ice barrier seemed no longer an impediment to the advance of the wildlings on the lands of the North. This could have had a peaceful solution, but again Sansa chose to remain hostile.</p><p>"I am going to speak to Tormund."</p><p>"There's no time for that, Crow! Or are you thinking of betraying us like you betrayed the Dragon Queen?"</p><p>Fortunately, Munda had taken Dany and the children to her tent, so they would not see how their father took out all his pent up anger against miserable and ignorant Karl who ended up with a broken nose and without several teeth. It was only two blows against the table, but enough to show the others present that he had no intention of enduring their jeering that day.</p><p>As a stained man he would be forever, some of them believed him cursed, and their fear stem mostly from superstition rather than from whatever Jon could say or do. Besides that Tormund had never been subtle about his return from death.</p><p>Mayhaps that's why no one else bothered him, and they sent one of them to look for Tormund in Castle Black.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Munda returned with Tormund in half the time he thought it would take, and he, as the rest insisted Jon's presence was required more than ever: the truth was that Sansa's men were proposing to firm a document, in Tormund's words "a thing full of runes that none of them could understand". Indeed, they needed someone to read the document for them.</p><p>He took Tormund away and explained to him what was the situation.</p><p>"You have to be fuckin' joking, Little Crow. No, no. I won't believe you unless you show me first!"</p><p>And Jon did show him. </p><p>Daenerys kept almost wordless since their arrival and she did the same in her meeting with Tormund. None of them actually spoke with the other, and after Jon reassured there was no dragon, Tormund attempted to start a conversation but Dany retreated again to the safety of her seclusion.</p><p>"There something wrong with her."</p><p>"She is fine," Jon said a little with harsh, trying to set aside any suggestion of madness. However, Tormund was not speaking of this.</p><p>"No, I told you. She carries death within her as you do. I'm so sorry, little crow. At least, you've children now. Believe me, they will give you something to live for."</p><p>In this last, he agreed. Notwithstanding, the thing about the death on them as some kind of curse was something he didn't want to dwell on. </p><p>"Aye. I need to protect them because of that. They are my reason now. So, I will ask you something."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (X)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The ride alongside Tormund and his daughter was much more entertaining than she would have imagined. His occurrences diverted the attention of the children from the descending temperature, although it was not necessary since each new thing they saw in the path seemed impressive enough for them. Dany also was in awe, and couldn't believe there was so much to see now.</p><p>It took approximately three days to get to the settlement Jon spoke of, taking a shortcut to avoid being seen by the villagers and arriving at Jon's cabin as soon as possible.</p><p>On some occasions, Jon's friend tried to let her know how much Jon had suffered during that time. Making comments of the innocent type but who had ulterior motives. Dany didn't allow herself to dwell on it. These were his people and of course, they would try to paint him at his best, especially since all they know about her is that she is a mass murderer.</p><p>As always, she responded with nods and curt answers.</p><p>His shack was isolated from the rest of the village and seemed somewhat different from the rest of which had been erected in the settlement. She couldn't help but wonder if Jon had built it on his own.</p><p>"Well this is it, Drag-" Tormund was about to say but trailed off, realizing of his mistake. "<em>Dany</em>. Here is home. Let's get to warm our arses," was his not best attempts to fix it.</p><p>"Arses? What's arses?" Jorian asked then.</p><p>Dany rolled her eyes and shook her head, knowing that, with Tormund, it would be impossible to avoid moments like these.</p><p>He opened the door and walked inside with her and the children, while his daughter helped with the stuff she brought. It was a bit grim inside definitely, but much better than she had imagined. </p><p>"I don't see anything!" Jorian complained.</p><p>Missella tightened her grip on Dany.</p><p>"Tormund, is there some kind of lamp?"</p><p>"Lamps? Oh yes, I'll bring them to you from the warehouse. We brought several from Castle Black."</p><p>"Thank you."</p><p>"Who are you?" Jorian called from the entrance to a different section of the small cabin. More a partition than a wall if she was honest.</p><p>The moment she heard another voice answering Jorian, Daenerys ran to take her son and hide him from whoever was inside.</p><p>There, lying with half of her body bare, was a woman.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She hasn't even thought about the possibility of Jon having a partner. Mainly because he hadn't mentioned one. And Daenerys told herself was this latter was what annoyed and not itself her presence. </p><p>The wildling woman, now dressed, roamed the room observing her and the children with something weird in her eyes, not jealous, more like distrustful. </p><p>"The dark hair doesn't fit you," she observed, unrequited. </p><p>She limited herself to squinted at her with a question implicit in her eyes: who are you?</p><p>"Val, if you remember her well, better off mind your own business from now on," Tormund asserted.</p><p>"I thought she was de-"</p><p>"Val!" Tormund cut her off, pointing out to the children who were looking at the strangers with wide-opened eyes.</p><p>She did leave the cabin, smashing the door. Tormund indicated her daughter to follow her and explain the situation, warning her about Jon's orders. </p><p>When they were left alone, he turned around with a face between amusement and awkwardness. Daenerys responded with an earnest expression. </p><p>"It's not what you think-" he began his defense. </p><p>"He should've told me."</p><p>"I told ya'. It's not what you are thinking. Yeah, she has gotten the habit of doing this and..."</p><p>"I understand, Tormund."</p><p>"...each time he just kicked her arse out of here," he did not give up. "I told you. The man was a shadow of himself all these years. I'm happy there's a second chance for you both." He looked down at the children. "For the four, and for the ones to come."</p><p>Dany shook her head and stopped fighting his insistence. </p><p>"How many people know about what happened? And what they will say about my presence?"</p><p>He scratched his red messy hair.</p><p>"Some new people have been coming here."</p><p>"People from the south?" she asked, alerted.</p><p>"Yeah, peasants. They escaped the raiding groups. Some men have even taken their women from there and bring them up here so we'll make sure to let them know that about you."</p><p>Dany frowned.</p><p>"That Jon took me and my children by force?"</p><p>Tormund laughed but at seeing she was not jesting he turned serious and nodded.</p><p>"It's our way," he explained. </p><p>Daenerys closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat, begging not to find something that would make her explode as she once did while living the Dothraki. Jon had never told her about <em>the wildlings </em><em>ways</em> but now she understood why they called them wildlings.</p><p>She wondered if Tormund had done the same with the mother of his daughters.</p><p>The children were still checking things around the house when Munda returned with the lamps she asked for, warning that Val was under control now, whatever that meant.</p><p><em>Val</em>, she told herself, a name that would stay in her mind.</p><p>"Mama, we are hungry," Jorian spoke for him and for Missella. Dany noticed that they hardly had a cauldron in Jon's precarious fireplace.</p><p>"Well, I suppose we will have to make a quick visit to the forest," Tormund warned. "Munda, stay here and you know what to do if something arises," he pointed at the ax he had left resting on the floor.</p><p>Dany swallowed hard again, giving herself the strength to face this new change.</p><p>It wasn't even the worst thing she had ever lived through.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><em>Don't look back</em>, that's what Viserys used to say to her when they were on the run. When he still loved her and tried to bring some peace of mind. She clung to those memories when he was gone, and that's why she called one of her late children after him. She found herself thinking a lot about him, perhaps because she understands him better now raising her own children on the run. </p><p>In the first days, everything was difficult, from waking up, giving them their lessons, trying to calm their anxiety about the sudden change, and taking them to bed with their stomachs, although full, dissatisfied with the rudimentary food that nature provided them.</p><p>Tormund's daughter Munda was not a talkative woman but she was definitely not aggressive like Val. Dany asked if they had any kind of market but she looked at her with a mocking smile and she understood. </p><p>Something that relieved her was that even though Jorian was less given to the low temperature, none of them got sick again. Missella, still without saying a word, walked a few meters to the outside to touch the snow through the leather gloves that Dany had made for her.</p><p>Their routine was not very different from the one they had in Braavos, with the difference that there was less space for them to play. She wondered if they could make modifications to the cabin.</p><p>Almost a week later, Munda appeared with her children. They were slightly older than Jorian and Missella. Daenerys didn't quite understand why she brought them until in her brusque way, the woman sat them at the same table where she was giving her lessons to Missella and Jorian, motioning for them to see and hear what Daenerys was saying. </p><p>Life was hard again, but Dany thought that maybe she could make the best out of it again. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Members of various clans were present in Castle Black and when Jon arrived, the loud cheers proclaimed that he was on their side and therefore an enemy of the Northern kingdom. He could see familiar faces between Sansa's envoys, who looked at him with some respect but amazed that they now had to face each other.</p><p>Jon read the documents Sansa had sent, a proposal that would have been an offense for them had they understood all the implications detailed there. What surprised him most is that Sansa believed that they would respect their old alliance, and under that excuse, fight for her in case of any conflict with the other kingdoms. In return, she would cede some lands in The Gift - much less territory than the extension they already had in their possession.</p><p>Harrell Gallark, Jon remembers him as one of Sansa's trusted men, came over a few days later on her behalf, and looking for an answer. Upon finding Jon present, the discomfort on his face became noticeable, since he surely expected to fool the wildlings easily and have a peaceful withdrawal from the territory.</p><p>"The rumors say that you are dead," was the first comment he made to him, once Jon came down from the tower where he had locked himself up so as not to bear Jarl's protests, who insisted on leaving the parley and continuing to advance. According to him, Sansa's men were weakened and it was the best time to do it.</p><p>Jon verified in the nervous glances of the northern soldiers that this was true and wondered what in the seven hells Sansa was doing in Winterfell to have the morale of his men on the ground.</p><p>"There also those who say you have lost any trace of honor," the man continued. </p><p>Has that comment ever hurt him? Now Jon didn't even care. He tossed the documents on the floor and turned around to leave. </p><p>"In the name of our queen, I should behead you for deserting and present it to her," the man shouted behind him. He was seeking a confrontation. "So everyone is going to see that you're not worthy of anything, Snow! Bastard, Queenslayer, and Oathbreaker. I bet with your head on a pike in Winterfell's walls, people will start to see you for who you really were."</p><p>Jon stopped dead, closed his eyes, and reached for Longclaw pommel. This was not just any man, he knew. He was his sister's man of trust, and if any harm fell on him, the clash would be unstoppable.</p><p>"In Winterfell, they are in mourning your sister Arya, who was killed in Essos. Do you want to know for whom?"</p><p>His heart skipped a beat. He told himself that he would not return to that place, that if Arya were alive, Daenerys would not be and her children would not have their mother. It hurt him but he had nothing to regret.</p><p>"Your former hand, Ser Davos Seaworth was found guilty of treason and executed, I was the one who took care of it myself and you don't need to thank me for doing it fast, after all, it's what I deserved. But I do not believe that you didn't know about this outcome. I am sure you both let her escape that day."</p><p>Jon turned around. His face transformed into an expression of pure hatred and determination.</p><p>Harrell couldn't see the darkness clouding his eyes.</p><p>"I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days we discovered that it was all a farse set up by you. A man without honor, who has betrayed every oath he has taken. If you have any honor left, in the name of Eddard Stark, stand before your queen and beg her pardon and accept the punishment that traitors deserve."</p><p>The wildling started getting excited in anticipation of fighting around him, but Gallark never let his tongue be his own warning.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She hurried through the castle hallways, with every step as if nails were driving into her bones and ripping them to shreds. Her maids had to catch her a couple of times to keep her from falling.</p><p>She did not want to leave her chambers. The news of her sister's death was something she would have expected to receive but not in the way it happened, not in the hands of that woman.</p><p><em>She shouldn't even be alive, </em>Sansa thought. </p><p>Once inside the Great Hall, Maester Wolkan asked her to calm down, since it did not do to her delicate health. The Queen in the North scared him off and asked to be informed of the reason for such a scandal in the middle of the night.</p><p>"The negotiations at Castle Black did not go according to plan, my queen," he explained, "there was a grave incident."</p><p>Her heart raced.</p><p>"What incident?" she surveyed the room with her eyes. She did not see any of the soldiers she sent with Harrell or him. "Where are our men?"</p><p>The Maester looked at her apprehensively.</p><p>A guard approached with a chest in hand. The Master again insisted that she should return to her bed but Sansa refused and went to open the wooden box.</p><p>There was Harrell's disembodied head along with the documents she had sent in for the negotiations.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Probably the next chapter will be a little longer and it will cover a longer period of time. There is going to be quite a lot of drama and heartbreak and ending with Daenerys making a decision (based on my plans, which can always change, I'm trying to end this in ten chapters max), so no update till next week 👀😔</p><p>You have now seen to this point much more of dark Jon, but don't worry dark Dany is coming.</p><p>Stay safe❤</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kate Bush's song Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) inspired most of this chapter. Placeboo cover is also excellent.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>6</strong>.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Daenerys</strong> <strong>(XI)</strong></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The sky seemed incandescent in a glum way as if after the storm, only grey clouds had remained. She still felt the snowflakes fall on her hair, stuck on her clothes, wetting her eyes, and freezing her lashes. She felt helpless, unable to move even when everything around her did.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A twinge.</em>
</p><p><em>She was short of breath</em>.</p><p>She jolted awake and her hand went to touch the place beneath her breast where the scar was. The hole that didn't allow her to breathe correctly. The sounds of neighing horses from outside startled her.</p><p>Daenerys got out of bed, careful not to wake her children who remained unaffected. She walked the few steps to the door and pressed an ear against it to hear what it was about, looking down to grab the handle of Munda's ax was.</p><p>Jon's voice made her breath relieved. </p><p>He was speaking with someone and she wanted to know who it was, so she opened the door slightly. She didn't mean to fully show herself but once the cracking announced her presence, Dany couldn't pretend she wasn't there. </p><p>Jon turned around, face contorted in concern, and she dreaded something has gone wrong. </p><p>With him, there was another man Dany didn't know, looking tough, stocky build and younger than Tormund. His menacing gaze was unmoved by the surprise of seeing her, and for a second Daenerys remembered the first encounter with Drogon and the fear he inspired in her.</p><p>Like Drogo, the man left gave no much reaction to her presence and rode off without much ado. </p><p>Because she was barefoot, Dany waited for Jon to come closer before helping him with the few things he brought with him. It surprised her greatly to find some old tomes among them.</p><p>"These belonged to Maester Aemon. I thought you'll make better use to them than the wildlings that lived in Castle Black."</p><p><em>Aemon</em>, she thought. The uncle she didn't know about until Jon told her about his existence. <em>Late existence</em>, she remembered grimly. </p><p>"Thank you," she told him, wholeheartedly, "I will need them."</p><p>He nodded in understanding. They talked a lot about her lessons to the kids. He agreed to help with what he can. </p><p>"I'm sorry this is-" he trailed off, surveying the room with his eyes and seeing the few substantial changes in a place that was just darkness before their arrival. She hung some colorful fabrics on the walls to help lit the room, and toys scattered across the floor plus the other chairs around the table told Jon this was not just his place anymore. "I'm sorry I can't give you something better but I promise we will improve it for you and the children," he finished. </p><p>"I-" she was about to say something but then didn't want to. She had lived in the streets, spent days and nights in the Red Waste, and dragged in chains to Vaes Dothrak. This was just a very cold place in comparison. But furs can't protect her from that. </p><p>Dany sniffed. </p><p>"What's that?" she asked.</p><p>"What?" Jon returned, confused. </p><p>She frowned and looked over at him. She smelled blood.</p><p>"What happened in Castle Black, Jon?"</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany was rubbing the bridge of her nose, irked as he finished recounting what had happened. The smell of blood entered her senses, mocking her and telling her that no matter where she was, it seemed to follow her everywhere.</p><p>"Dany," he called to her. "Dany, please. Talk to me."</p><p>She did not realize that he had stopped talking and silence hung over them. With a sharp sigh, she opened her eyes to find him looking at her with worry. </p><p>"If you're angry, tell me but don't stop talking to me, please," he implored. </p><p>"The plan was to keep us out of sight and now you've ignited a war with your sister."</p><p>"My cousin," he corrected. "That man killed Ser Davos. What I was supposed to do? Let him be?"</p><p>"Yes!" she shouted and rapidly calmed herself, checking the kids were asleep. She lowered her tone and hissed, "What do you think I've been doing all these years? Do you think that I don't have my own desire for justice? But I do not act on impulses because any harm on me also befalls them."</p><p>He looked enraged and ashamed.</p><p>"Now what? Your sister cousin will send for your head and find three more to delight herself?"</p><p>"Sansa and her men can not get past the Wall. It's free folk's domain," he replied, having nothing to argue against her berate. "I've chosen their side."</p><p>Her eyes opened up with bewilderment. </p><p>"And what does that mean?"</p><p>"It means I am with them. It means I have to help them."</p><p>Dany stood up and ran her hands through her still darkened hair.</p><p>"Did you bring me and <em>my</em> children here just for you to go to war?" </p><p>"Quit wagging your tongue and listen!"</p><p>He was upset. He disguised it well beneath the darkness they were in but Dany could see the storm brewing in his eyes. She understood she said something wrong.</p><p>"I will never do something that endangers you or <em>our</em> children. They are not just <em>yours, </em>anymore." He was emphatic on this point. "Yes, I've been stagnant in the past and I do not doubt that I am between those you owe you retribution. But this time it's not about saving the world or serving the Realm, I do not care about those things. All that matters now it's <em>them</em>, you, and myself. Am I being clear?"</p><p>Daenerys fought the urge to argue, to say things she would not be able to take back.</p><p>"I'm not going to battle, again," he stated, "No, unless it is extremely necessary. I will help them to win, though. You just have to trust me."</p><p>She couldn't help but scoff, letting her cynicism resurface.</p><p>"Dany, do you trust me?" </p><p>Matter of fact, she shouldn't. </p><p>"In some extension," she replied dryly, moving to the small privacy provided by the division that separated the bedroom from the rest of the house. </p><p>She was putting on a thick winter dress over her nightgown when he followed her inside and spoke, scaring her.</p><p>"How are they?"</p><p>Dany swallowed the lump in her throat and suppressed the desire to scold him. He could no longer enter there as he wished. In fact, it was there that she asked herself where he was going to sleep. It was obvious that she and the children barely fit in one bed.</p><p>"Jorian resents the cold a little but luckily none of them have been suffering from fever or something else so it must be that they might have something of this place within them," she answered, annoyed by that fact because she would never favor the cold. </p><p>He laughed softly. </p><p>"And Missella? How is she?"</p><p>Dany's heart clenched. There was no day where she would not try to make her baby sing again, or speak a least.</p><p>She sat on the edge of her bed to put on her boots. </p><p>"Snow riveted her attention," Dany chose to tell something happier. </p><p>"I cannot wait to show them to Ghost," he said, and before she could protest he added,  with a stern voice, "Tormund told me about the incident with Val."    </p><p>Dany stopped moving for a moment and thought about her response. She found herself very calm.</p><p>"Quite the view," she reckoned. Because it was. The wildling woman was exceptionally beautiful, that she would not deny. </p><p>"She is nothing," Jon grunted, careful not to elevate his volume. "I used to leave for the forest for days and she got this insane habit of sneaking here to create-"</p><p>"No man is made of wood, Jon," Dany cut him off, finishing with her clothes and pacing to the basin to refresh her face. "I don't want strangers here. Keep your affairs at least where our children won't see them."</p><p>She didn't notice that he got closer until he was taking her forearm to make her look at him.</p><p>"Nothing happened with her," he said, very firmly and she knew he was telling the truth but something about it made her want to push the matter forth, and so she dismissed him with another scoff. "Dany," he warned, tightening his hold. "Next time she storms in I will make sure she does not leave this place without understanding."</p><p>He was so close that she could smell the blood and sense its flavor in her mouth. It was odd but this way she could look into his eye and not feeling herself hateful or sad. It was like in those distant days in Dragonstone, where they would try to force the other out of their stoicism. </p><p>She came to think both of them have the strength to face the other. It never crossed her mind how easily she was surrendering every piece of her until she was nothing.</p><p>As soon as she believed it gone, that bitterness returned. Dany look down where his grip and removed herself from it.</p><p>"There will be no next time," she warned. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon scowled at the map in front of him as he was trying to figure out the best he could about their position on it and if what he had in mind was plausible. He had already sent a message to Eastwatch and was waiting for a response. He got many thoughts in mind but couldn't deny that it was going to be a hard task to carry out. </p><p>"The woman you brought, from where she is?"</p><p>Jon looked up at the other side of the room where Jarl was looking out the window. He didn't understand maps, and every time someone wanted to explain it to him, he became forbidding, shouting that he was a warrior and he just wanted to go and fight.</p><p>And he was good at it, Jon admitted.</p><p>His question, however, unearthed his basics instincts. He had noticed the way he looked at Daenerys that day.</p><p>Everything new tended to attract attention and Daenerys herself was someone who lured people to her.</p><p>"From the lands across the sea," he replied, dryly. </p><p>"Have you stolen her?" he continued, grinning at him. </p><p>Tormund beside him gave Jon a look. He was trying to elicit a reaction just as Val used to do. The two of them enjoyed that game.</p><p>"She is with me on her own will," he responded, evasive. He couldn't say the words. Say that she was his because she has never believed herself so. They didn't even speak clearly of what they were for the other except the other parent of their children. </p><p>And yet, he should've lied.</p><p>"With you?" Jarl scoffed, finding the thought almost amusing it seemed. "She is a free woman," he stated.</p><p>Tormund gave him a poke. He didn't need it.</p><p>"She's not. I claimed her and the children."</p><p>None noted Dany was the Dragon Queen they knew from all those years ago, the Dragon Queen they believed dead because of his hand. His betrayal. </p><p>Stories. For them, she was just a story now. And that made the whole affair worse.</p><p>Jarl nodded, indifferent.</p><p>"If I were you, I wouldn't take my eyes off her," he commented very lightly. </p><p>"If I were you, I would be careful of where I put my eyes on," Jon warned, "I claimed her. She is with me."</p><p>The words left his mouth naturally but it didn't help to make it seemed better. Now was about protection but what if a day came and she found herself drew to someone else? To a man like Jarl? </p><p>Jarl left the Great Hall, and Jon knew the issue did not end there. The first time he knew the man, Val had faked a sprained ankle and entered his shack for the first time. Not long after, the angry wildling warrior broke his door with a strong kick and ax in hand, ready to dismember Jon for "stealing Val." Jon ended up throwing the insane couple out of his house and since then there has been a constant scampering between them in which he used to be the spectator of the whole ritual, where she provoked some poor imbecile so he would come to look for the "thief" and then they finished some way fucking the hell out of each other.</p><p>And yet Val did not consider herself taken by him nor he by her.</p><p>They were both sick, and sometimes Jon thought it would be best to kill them both.</p><p>"It's not the first nor the last that will ask the same. A Dragon Queen is a still a dragon queen, white hair or not," Tormund joked. </p><p>"What am I supposed to tell? That she's my wife?"</p><p>"Is it not? As long as I know you got her with child and brought her all the way from the lands across the sea. That's pretty much how things are 'round here."</p><p>Jon didn't like the way things were around here. He had chosen to isolate himself because it was unbearable to see some of the things that were tolerated in their culture and to be unable to do something or change it.</p><p>At the end of the day, he felt trapped in a dichotomy again.</p><p>And he didn't want Daenerys to be his like that. Yes, he wanted to marry her. Now more than ever. His aversion to what he believed might be wrong had vanished the moment he lost her and thought certain he would never have her again.</p><p>But after seeing what they had created together, nothing could feel more correct than being together. And yet there was a void between the two.</p><p>A wedge that he himself droved with his actions.</p><p>"I killed her too."</p><p>Tormund sardonic grin disappeared.</p><p>"I'm sorry, little crow," he apologized, "But if you don't properly settle what she is for you, I promise you that someone else would try."</p><p>"Let them try and die," Jon snapped, moving the candle above the map and squinting at it. They need to alight the Great Hall with something better than this.</p><p>After a couple of minutes, he felt bad for snarling at the only company that still tolerated him that was not his wolf or his infant son.</p><p>"Dany is my father's sister."</p><p>Inbreeding was seen a something sinful, even taking partners from the same clan. </p><p>"You son of a bitch!" Tormund reacted with a shout, hitting his shoulder and gaining another grunt from Jon. "People know you, and what you are about to do for us will be enough for them to see that you belong here now. Among us. Besides, your children are fine. They don't seem like they come from kin fuckers."</p><p>"Tormund," he warned the last time, returning to see at the map. "We need to build a port here," he pointed to their current location, "And it must be now before something else arises. It has to connect us with Hardhome and from there to the Shivering Sea and the Narrow Sea," he went gliding his fingers across the material, "We need to put Hardhome on the map. Making it a trade point." He returned to signaling the unnamed settlement. "But here. Here would be our garrison."</p><p>Tormund nodded.</p><p>"I like it."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"I swear the last time I checked, we had only two," Jon said, entering the shack and crossing a child that sat on the entrance with a piece of paper on his hands. He looked around in shock. At least seven children plus Jorian and Missella were there.</p><p>He noted Dany was under stress, trying to keep up with all of them. On the front, he turned and saw Munda and the other spearwives laughing and enjoying themselves. <em>What happened here?</em></p><p>"She began taking his children here, and I thought she was just keeping an eye on them while guarding us. I couldn't say no. But then some other women appear with more children. I don't know," she explained, distressed.</p><p>Jon snorted. He indicated to Munda and his companions to leave and with them, their children. When they all left, he realized that Jorian was hiding behind the room's screen, while little Missella seemed abstracted from the fuss around her, attention fully focused on the open book in front of her. Dany had told him that she knew how to read, and she only had four. </p><p>"I'd like it if you can come with me to a place," he said.</p><p>Dany did not object. She wanted to leave the cabin at least for a couple of hours. It didn't take too long to prepare the children as they were constantly covered in warm furs and gloves.</p><p>Just like Dany mentioned, Missella was fascinated with the snow and would stop every twenty steps (she counted her steps) to reach from the ground a handful of it. </p><p>"Where are we going?" Jorian asked cheeks flushed from the harsh climate. "It's cold!"</p><p>Jon chuckled.</p><p>"It's a surprise, son," he replied. Relinquishing the feeling of a family of his own. At least, he wanted to think it that way.</p><p>Dany and Missella were some steps behind them.</p><p>When they reach their destination, Jon made them wait until it was safe enough. They wouldn't notice they were surrounded by another family - a pack of wolves. Jon could sense them clearly.</p><p>"Mama," he heard Jorian speaking in not so subtle whispers to Dany. And then something in Valyrian he couldn't understand. Dany did not respond.</p><p>"Jon?" instead she called him out. </p><p>At that moment, as if he were part of the same whitish landscape, Ghost moved very slowly away from the shelter of the forest and entered the glade where they were standing. Jon had not seen him in moons.</p><p>"Boy," he greeted him, extending a hand for him who gladly come to lick. His tail wagging. </p><p>"That's the <em>wolf</em>?" Jorian asked with excitement and spelling the word a little bit harsh. </p><p>"Aye," Jon turned around and approached, with Ghost following suit. </p><p>Dany tensed. He had made the mistake of not introducing them in the past so it was not surprising that she had been scared of his size and pushed the children behind her.</p><p>"Dany," he said to her, "Dany, it's okay. Ghost would never attack them."</p><p>As if it could understand them, the wolf leaned back on its paws and bowed its neck in submission. Dany was stunned.</p><p>Surprisingly, it was Missella who took the first step out of her mother's fierce grip. Jon's heart fluttered when she put her tiny hand on his muzzle before he had proceeded to lick it. In response, Missella giggled. </p><p>Jorian followed his sister's example and did the same, both going to stroke Ghost's fur and behind his lonely ear.</p><p>Dany remained behind, eyes softened but lost as if she were thinking she won't dare to voice out. </p><p>Jon squatted down with the kids and Ghost, lifting his stare to look at her.</p><p>"You can come," he invited her with an extended hand and a childish hope she would come. </p><p>"I'm fine. Thank you."</p><p>She folded her hands in her back and stared at them in silent contemplation. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon spoke with the wildling women who brought their children to her and they insisted they wanted their children to learn about the things she was teaching her own. Dany had no heart - and felt quite uncomfortable saying no, especially because those women were providing her and the children of security. From what exactly? She didn't know. But this event led her to finally go down to the settlement and settle in a hall where no only she attended children but also some other people who, curiously, approached and stayed to listen. </p><p>Meanwhile, Jorian outgrew his shyness and started talking and playing with those other children, arousing mixed feelings in her. On the one hand, it was inevitable that as they grew older, they'd become more and more independent. It was a good thing. But in the other, Daenerys found herself longing for those days where all her children saw and needed was her.</p><p>The day their father brought them to meet Ghost, Dany had to accept something she had never wanted to admit to herself: her children also belonged on this side.</p><p>When they were born, miles from where they were now, she has never wanted to think about the fact that in their blood also ran the northern heritage; the blood of the wolves. That day, seeing them with the white-fur, red-eyed direwolf, Daenerys thought of Drogon and how much she needed him. How much she missed him.</p><p>She felt the urge to withdraw into something she could call hers. It was something she used to do a lot in the past. The more rejected and forsaken she felt, the more she sheltered herself in the banner of her house, the only certainty she had back then: she was Daenerys Stormborn, last trueborn member of House Targaryen. She walked into a pyre and wake dragons out of stone. She walked the red waste and survived. She started conquering cities at the age of eighteen and those people she freed they named her their Mhysa. All of that fell irrelevant at the moment Jon revealed the truth. No, she knew it wasn't just him, it was Westeros itself. Her greatest mistake was believing she would find a home on this land when all she found was misery and loss. </p><p>In her head, she told herself that those thoughts were not right. Her children - her reason to keep breathing, were conceived here. Jon gave her what she thought unattainable. She should see him and be grateful. </p><p>But she couldn't.</p><p>All she saw when looking at him was the things she lost. He killed her because he let her become in a monster, let others harm her while he withdrew, and returned when the damage was done, just to finish it. </p><p>Daenerys knew her dreams were not just dreams; they were trying to tell her what happened that day and because of that, she wanted them gone. The knowledge he killed her was already hurtful enough. And the thing she did to deserve that...she couldn't bear it. </p><p>Dany did what she was good at and tried not to look back. Days became weeks and weeks months. Jon kept his promise to make improvements to the cabin, and in less than Daenerys had expected, he had expanded it enough so that she and the children had their own bedroom and he could get back his own. He had also started working on the dock, coming and going from Hardhome where something was happening but she preferred not to really know what.</p><p>She couldn't say she was totally unhappy. There were moments where she shut the voice in her head telling her cruel things and enjoyed the feeling of having a real family. Even if she knew it was a matter of time for everything start to crumble. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"No, Ghost, go, go, go," she tried again to shoo the wolf but he was insistent, lying on the ground and looking at her with doleful eyes. She was skinning a rabbit for dinner, having exceeded the wildlings' training for it. Dany glanced at him and he started whining. "How is possible that you could be this pampered?" she complained, finally ditching a piece of meal in his direction. It was not the first time they were in the same scenario and each time Dany would yield to his allure. </p><p>She scratched behind his ear and he licked her hand in return. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>"...<em>and Prince Daeron, having learned from the mistakes made by Lord Orys Baratheon in the first war, used goat paths located in the pass to avoid traps and ambushes which Dornishmen usually implemented to repel invaders</em>."</p><p>She was combing Missella's curls after her bath while listening to Jon talk to Jorian about The Young Dragon in the main room. When Jon had approached her to ask her if he could start telling them about their ancestor history, Dany had only one question in mind: Why? Why bother? She would have even understood that he had wanted to tell them about the Kings of Winter and their millennial reigns, not about the inheritance that he so vehemently rejected. Instead of voicing it out, she told him not to mention the existence of dragons yet. </p><p>"Don't you want to hear Papa's story?" she asked a still muted Missella, who fidgeted with the laces that hold the front of Daenerys' dress and shook her head. She wasn't exactly afraid of Jon anymore, but she didn't want to stay close to him as Jorian was. "And if we sing a song? <em>She was a pretty lady, dressed in yellow and blue, with a</em>..." </p><p>But Missella just giggled at her favorite song about the Butterfly Lady, leaving Dany hopeless. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Something he had become good at was noticing that she wanted something even when she didn't know it.</p><p>One day, after returning from Hardhome, he brought her ink and parchment. Jon did not warn her, he simply left the material in the place where she used to store it and she realized with time that she never ran out of it.</p><p><em>I should ask him to get dye for my hair</em>, she thought.</p><p>She appreciates it because something she couldn't afford to stop doing was writing about her memories. Being in Westeros had fueled her fear of falling prey to what had happened so many years ago with her mind. Madness, poison, manipulation, or magic - she wasn't sure.</p><p>It is on one of those nights when she is sitting and focused on them, that Jon asks, "Would you have done the same? Would you have been the one to plunge the dagger on my heart?"</p><p>Dany sucked in a sharp breath and look up to him. Kids were already in bed and both were drinking tea in silence. She'd get used to his silent company, and like that, his company was perfect. </p><p>"After you had killed thousands of innocents?" she returned, in a stern voice. </p><p>The glance he spared at her told Daenerys that, like her, that was something he couldn't get over yet. How could them? Every day they woke up and pretended that the other was too busy in their own affairs to give thought to that gap between them.</p><p>"After declaring war to the world," he added. </p><p>She felt dizzy and images of an army in a ruined city crossed her mind but she couldn't retain it too long. </p><p>"You wouldn't have done that," she replied and prayed for him to understand what she was trying to say and not ask further. </p><p>"But if I have done it."</p><p>"Jon," she imitated his voice when he scolded Jorian. It was meant to shut any protest. "I am enjoying the silence."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The next time he saw Salladhor Saan, the captain was elated to hear that Davos' murder was nothing more than mutilated members thrown into the forest to feed the wolves. It was not lost on Jon that he still needed to punish those who ordered it.</p><p>"Things in the south are not right, I have heard rumors of uprisings against this former sellsword that now rules from the castle of an important great house," he commented but Jon had no idea what he was referring to. "White Harbor has become almost impossible. The Queen in the North does not want outsiders on her land."</p><p>What Sansa didn't want was an attack from the east, Jon knew. White Harbor did not have the necessary defenses but it was still a better-prepared flank than the west and the impenetrable North itself thanks to the wildlings.</p><p>"It is good then that we have a port here," Jon replies almost dissuasively. He needed Salladhor to spread the rumor of a new trading hub. He had no idea if he and his fleet would be useful to him in case Sansa did indeed declare war.</p><p>"Yeah," he scoffed. "Good thing this Gods-forsaken and frozen wasteland has at least one port."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Lord Crow is lonely. I wonder if his dragon keep is bed warm as I used to."</p><p>Jon sighed. He had not seen Val in months after she had joint a raiding group and leave the settlement. He had even hoped she would not return.</p><p>It unsettled him how well it was her memory that she recognized Daenerys instantaneously.</p><p>"How fares Lady Crow?" she questioned, approaching him an trying to put her hand on his face. Jon stopped her and pushed her away.</p><p>"No more games," he grunted. </p><p>"Who said it was a game?" she rebutted, and thereupon she let out a loud guffaw. "I've heard she is enlightening our people with foreign knowledge."</p><p>"She teaches them to read. Shouldn't you approach her?"</p><p>The mocking grin disappeared from her face, turning serious. She cleared her throat.</p><p>"The clan chiefs cheer that you have decided to join our fight. Is that true?"</p><p>Jon pretended to keep busy writing missives.</p><p>"I'm not going to join your raiding groups if that's the question."</p><p>In fact, he had already finished his chores for the day and before going back to the dock to supervise that everything was in place, he wanted to wait for Dany to finish giving her lessons so he could take her with him and finally show her what he was doing. She never asked, not since the day he made it clear to her that he was going to face Sansa but not through war. Her disinterest was all the opinion he got from her.</p><p>"I heard about the war against the Queen of Winter."</p><p>"It's not a war."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The estrangement of his daughter afflicted Jon, as did to Dany the fact that she seemed not to want to speak. Despite this, Missella was a bright girl, who loved listening to attentively and reading what she could grasp in books. There was a story that her mother told her recurrently at night about a Butterfly Lady, with dark curls and tan skin, dressed in yellow and blue and many other abstract descriptions that nevertheless did not prevent him from understanding that it was Missandei of Naath, for whom the girl carried part of her name and who had died right in front of Dany's eyes.</p><p>The distant memory of that woman who suffered such an unjust fate made Jon wonder something that he had not dared to ask until then: did Daenerys and her inner circle know she was with child? He didn't dare ask her. The idea that everything that happened between them had caused her to decide not to tell him was terrible. It wasn't supposed to be that way. Nothing that happened was supposed to be the way it was. </p><p>He took parchment and ink from Dany's chest of things and wrote something that had crossed his mind over the lastest years but had never dared to finish processing.</p><p>In the evenings, before sending them to bed, Jon would lie on the couchen with Jorian and Dany in a chair with Missella. They took turns reading a story to them. He wondered why they never did it in the children's room.</p><p>That night it was his turn.</p><p>"What's the name of the story?" Dany asked casually.</p><p>He, still a little sorry for himself, replied, "Lady of the Blue Roses."</p><p>Daenerys looked up with her attention on the parchment. Only there did she realize that Jon did not have one of the stories she had written for the children long ago in his hand, but something of his own.</p><p>Jon didn't know much about Lyanna Stark, hardly what people that lived in Winterfell would carefully recount, avoiding at all coasts arouse Lord Eddard Stark's melancholy, for the official story, had been that poor Lyanna had been kidnapped and raped by Rhaegar, not that both in their own volition had shunned their duty and caused a war.</p><p>However, none of that is what Jon transcribed in that parchment. Just as Dany's stories tried to disguise all the pain and sadness, tragedy and hopelessness, his writing tried to do exactly that - with less elegance, of course. As if he himself was trying to tell his own self of Missella and Jorian's age that his mother was a Lady of the Blue Roses, and not someone he would never really know.</p><p>As he narrated the tale, he felt Missella's movement as she slid off Daenerys's lap and walked stealthily and curiously toward Jon. He couldn't sing to her like Daenerys did but his words caught her attention.</p><p>When Jon felt Missella lean back on his leg to get a better view of what her father was reading to them, he gave Dany a quick look to make sure everything was in order.</p><p>She was smiling but in her eyes, there was still sadness. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She was storing some things in a back deposit when she heard movement coming from the Hall. When Daenerys returned, she met that same frightening looking man who had returned with Jon a few months ago. He was fiddling around with the stuff Dany used to teach the children.</p><p>"May I help you?" she asked him, startling him. She knew that a rapid movement and he could have her throat cut. Yet she found herself unable to show cowardice. </p><p>He did not answer her and kept moving the papers and looking at the drawings and inscriptions, almost with childish curiosity.</p><p>Dany took a deep breath and carefully approached. She was no longer afraid of the imposing presence of a man after Drogo. </p><p>It took weeks for him to finally speak and not just listen to her indications. His name was Jarl and he was a warrior. She taught him to write his name and identify some letters. He never showed up when there were more people but when everyone had left and only she was left. Maybe it was pride or shame, but Dany didn't tell anyone about these encounters, not even Jon.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Munda and her companions followed closely behind as she went for a walk around, trying to take a breather from the suffocating routine she had undergone. Her favorite place was the hill that overlooked the settlement and the coast, where the port began to take shape.</p><p>Dany had heard me slightly that Jon and another group of people were taking care of its construction but she never thought that it was, in fact, happening. Unlike Missella and Jorian, she still felt oblivious to everything around her. Luckily, that didn't stop her from adapting and accepting it as best she could.</p><p>She sat long hours looking at the construction of that port, wondering how much time had passed.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"You will leave, again?"</p><p>She returned to find him packing up his regular travel saddlebag. After the first time Jorian saw him leaving and he cried, Jon only left when they were napping. She knew he was engaged in activities related to expansion of the wildlings domain over the lands of his sister's kingdom. She dreaded that someday he would not return. </p><p>"It's not Hardhome this time," Jon announced, avoiding to start at her while he spoke. "I will let him see me."</p><p>Her heart skipped a beat. </p><p>"Your brother?"</p><p>He sighed loudly. </p><p>"Who was my cousin," he corrected, "and now is whatever he is."</p><p>He passed her by, oddly detached. Dany followed him almost stumbling over him.</p><p>"How long?" she inquired. The longer he's been absent were those days he spent at Castle Black. </p><p>"A couple of weeks," he replied and let Dany again stunned. </p><p>She opened her mouth and mumbled but not coherent sound came out of it. It was so sudden, they never talked about this.</p><p>"It's too long," she finally said.</p><p>Jon made another pause, rubbing a hand over his face and pricking his eyes. They were again tormented. </p><p>"I promise you Tormund and his daughters will take care of you and the children," he reassured. "I'm not leaving you or the children. I will never do that. You just have to trust me." He probably noticed immediately that what he asked for was too ambitious. So he add, "Do you ever think back in the waterfall?"</p><p>It served to remove her from dark ruminations. Dany woke up and tried to take his words carefully. The truth was that she did not return to that place in time too much, because she did not want to admit that was the last time she felt fully happy.</p><p>"I do," she conceded him. "You know I do."</p><p>Then he closed the distance between the two and cradled her face in his hands. Dany wanted to blink and distance herself from the moment but this time she chose to see eye to eye. His breathing was unsteady, his expression tortured. She had to make a great effort not to think that this would be the relationship between them forever. A push and pull. This time she stopped pulling and without thinking too much, she joined her lips with his in search of the familiarity that had intoxicated her in the past until he cruelly pushed her away. And indeed, that was what she expected him to do. She was ready to be pushed again.</p><p>Instead, Jon opened his mouth and searched for her to do the same, which she granted, in her mind still waiting for him to realize that he was doing something wrong and abhorrent.</p><p>It was Dany who had to push him away to get air in her lungs. </p><p>She had not forgotten his kisses, the feeling of his beard rubbing against her skin and the cold he used to carry with him as if only she could get the opposite effect on him. However, there was something strange that she couldn't explain and as soon as she pulled away, the twinge underneath her breast reminded her of the stark reality: she was kissing her murderer.</p><p>He nodded and understood her confusion. She couldn't be there yet, so Jon just put a light kiss on Dany's forehead and stated, "I'm always thinking about that waterfall."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>After his Hand finished reading the missive where his informant elaborated on the adversities that the northernmost kingdom currently faced, Bandon couldn't help but smile.</p><p>"I thought Sansa would have been more cunning. However, I very much doubt that the Northern army could not stand a small group of wildlings," Tyrion commented. He was also amused by the whole thing. He still argued that the North would rejoin the Seven Kingdoms in less than it takes for the grayscale to infect and kill its host.</p><p>"Unless a conflict of loyalties comes into play, right?" Bran suggested, looking up at the sky through the window. "Sending Jon to the true North beyond the Wall may not have been the best decision."</p><p>It was Tyrion's idea, actually. Sometimes he was surprised at how comfortable the dwarf felt with his apparently kind intentions.</p><p>"Do you think Jon Snow has allies in the Northern army?" Tyrion scoffed, "His support, although deserved and valued, always depended on the heritage of Ned Stark. An inheritance that only you and Sansa carry, and soon the lords of the North will look this way with envy. The truth is that never I understood why you gave away the North. "</p><p>Bran nodded.</p><p>"Because the fate of the North is going to serve as an example to the other kingdoms of what can happen if they seek independence."</p><p>Without waiting for an answer from his Hand, Bran threw his head back and searched through the cold landscape for the lonely and grim-faced rider who kept walking through the far north, disappearing and re-emerging as a phantasmagorical entity.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I cheat myself when I say this will only take 10 chapters lol</p><p>I decided to leave the details of the conflict between the wildlings and the North for the development of the next chapters but keep in mind that until Jon establishes himself as King Beyond The Wall, neither Sansa nor Bran will know that he is behind everything.</p><p> </p><p>It is obvious that at some point Daenerys will return to Essos. Initially, this chapter was going to end with something similar. However, it seemed a bit hasty to have them come North in one chapter and the next, she leaving. So, although this delays my plans a bit, I would rather focus on the things that happen chapter by chapter than strictly respect my outline.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. I don't want them to know the way I loved you.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Seven with S of Smut</p><p>Song recommendation: Hurts like Hell - Fleurie</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>7.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The Queen in the North could hear the pounding of her heart in her ear. The tea they had given her early in the morning to hide the discomfort made everything around her more intense, so she could ignore the pain. Notwithstanding, the bustle around her had the same effect on her head. </p><p>"Silence," she ordered after regaining some of her concentration. Her voice echoed off the cold, wet walls of the Great Hall. </p><p>The eyes of the different lords and ladies were fixed on their queen with a serious mien. </p><p>"I have gathered you, my lords, because I am afraid that the conflict with the wildlings has escalated to a level that I am not willing to continue tolerating. I have been compassionate and respected their previous alliance with my brother, the former King in the North. However, they have not respected the limits of our property. They have mocked our attempt to achieve peace and agreement, showing us that no matter how much compassion we show towards them, the wildlings are not tilted in favor of coexistence."</p><p>Maester Wolkan delivered a reassuring look, proud that she could put all those words together without being affected by dizziness and sickness. It seemed a naff gesture, but when surrounded by people who meant nothing to one, a simple display of affection was enough to move her hardened heart.</p><p>"Queen Sansa, you have my men at your disposal. We will do whatever it takes to protect the North from foreign invasions, as we have always done since we declared your late brother Robb our King. However, my queen, no I can stop mentioning our concern about the harvest our lands have produced in the last moons. An army needs provisions." </p><p>Sansa cleared her throat.</p><p>"After the reconstruction of our glass gardens, we have had an exceptionally good harvest. But these provisions must be prioritized to feed the common people." She made a pause, clapping her hands to hide her trembling. "I have sent a representative of the crown to negotiate a loan with the Iron Bank of Braavos, and I think the winds will blow in our favor." </p><p>The room was filled with celebrations then, and this time the Mastre gave Sansa an apprehensive look. Yes, it was true that the harvest had been good but it was also true that the upswing would not be enough to feed the entire North.</p><p>Since the dead had wiped out everything in their path to Winterfell, their limited resources had become even more limited. Not to mention that the new design of the plan they had drawn up with the Master of Coin did not seem to please the lords accustomed to the transaction with the Crown's kingdoms.</p><p>She told herself they just needed some years of adjustment. </p><p>The blighted relationship with the rest of the neighboring kingdoms did not have to affect their economy. After all, when she got the money in her hands, and the North returned to trading with its own resources, it'd become the Kingdom that once was for thousands of years under the Stark banner.</p><p><em>Time</em>, she said to herself. She just needed time.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Dany gave Jorian a little shake to wake him up, receiving a sound of protest until the boy finally listened and crawled into her lap. Though he was fond of his father, he was still a mama's boy and loved to snuggle up to her. After he finally woke up, he surveyed the room and noticed the absence of Jon.</p><p>"Where is Papa?" he asked, still sleepy. </p><p>Dany swallowed hard, aware of what was coming. </p><p>"He had to travel and will come back in a couple of days-" she started feeling his little body trembling with soft sobs. He would be especially whiny and querulous in the mornings. "Shh, sweetling, Papa will return soon."</p><p>"I don't like it when he's gone!" he protested, hiding his reddened face. </p><p>She sighed, trying to soothe him.</p><p>"I don't like it, either," she found herself admitting.  </p><p>Luckily, Missella didn't need to be woken up with the same treatment, and she usually sat on the bed waiting for Dany to finish preparing Jorian, her dark curls all over her face.</p><p>Jon had suggested that she be more demanding to Jorian, a hint that made her feel like she was doing something wrong. Dany knew he had that advantage over her too, the acknowledge of what a parent should do. It was funny how little things like this could make her feelings sour towards him.</p><p>And they had kissed already. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was yielding again.  </p><p>As Jon had anticipated, Tormund showed up every morning to make sure she and the children were in perfect condition and guarding them in their daily outing.</p><p>After she finished with her reading and writing lessons, she would send the children to play with Munda's children, now a little more comfortable with them being away from her. </p><p>***</p><p>As soon as the Hall emptied, her usual company appeared without making any noise, sitting on a bench and opening the tomes and books to choose what he wanted to learn that day.</p><p>"These are the Free Cities," she explained to him when he pointed to Essos on the map. </p><p>"The land across the Sea," he replied in a thick, sullen voice. "You come from there," he pointed out.</p><p>People in the small village or settlement had not known her well enough in the past to realize who she really was, so Tormund and Jon took it upon themselves to spread the rumor that she came from Essos.</p><p>A foreigner. So, she supposed, that's what Jarl heard about her.</p><p>"Yes," Dany answered a little discouraged, feeling strange at the thought of Essos. </p><p>"Why are you here?" then he asked.</p><p>Dany blinked, taken aback. She stared at him and found him sincerely curious. </p><p>"I am with Jon Snow," she stated, and because she heard them calling him in that way, she added: "Lord Crow."</p><p>"I know. He told me you are his claim."</p><p>She balked at the meaning of that. </p><p>"I am not his claim," she said, emphatic. </p><p>"You are free?" he ventured and it was when Dany realized she committed a mistake. He was speaking strictly about her relationship with Jon. </p><p>"I am with Jon," she clarified, equally firm and conscious of her own statement. "If you came here with other intentions than learning you'll leave disappointed." </p><p>He looked at her with a sardonic smile before chuckling and leaning back on the chair. Dany retreated a little and crossed her arms above her chest. </p><p>"They say he killed his last woman. A queen she was."</p><p>This time, she definitely felt like someone had punched her on the stomach. She understood that he didn't know who she was.</p><p>"And Ygritte died in his arms, too. He is a cursed man."</p><p>Dany's stomach lurched at the mention of that name. </p><p>"Who was Ygritte?" and <em>what she was for him?</em> she wanted to add. She didn't understand why he scar beneath her left breast started throbbing when she spoke the name of that person. That woman, she was sure.</p><p>"One of us. A woman. A fierce woman she was. He stole her, claim her, and then abandoned her. She swore vengeance on him and hunted his arse until she died." He made a pause and snorted. "The queen he killed, they said she had three dragons and two large armies he took for himself until he needed her no more and then he murdered her. He uses them, makes them weak."</p><p>He spoke harshly, almost resentful. Dany could've been wondering what's going on inside his head but rather she dwelled on the meaning of his words. </p><p>"You knew this queen?" she asked, unsettled.</p><p>He shook his head.</p><p>"I didn't but they say she was beautiful."</p><p>It seemed that her Valyrian features were greater than any of her exploits. Or her missteps. </p><p>"And why Jon killed her?" Jarl only shrugged, so she added, clearing her throat, "Perhaps he did it for a good reason."</p><p>She was just trying to make it make sense. </p><p>After a moment of silence in which she looked down to where her hands were, above the table, she stirred when he put one of his over her.</p><p>"I can protect you from him," he said and Dany felt immediately awkward with his insinuation. </p><p>"Don't ever touch me, again," she hissed as the time Viserys beat her the last time. It was not just the mention of how Jon somehow held possession of her but the fact that he believed himself with the virtue of doing it himself. Still, there was one certainty, "I'm loyal to him," she stated, "Only to him." She turned around, running her hands through her hair. "Please, leave," she asked him. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Tormund, up, up!"</p><p>Jon Snow's boy demanded, clinging to Tormund's forearm so he could lift him up and leave the child hanging in the air. </p><p>"Look how strong you are gettin', child!" he commented while Jorian stretched his legs so he could also wrap them around his arm.  Little Missella reached out and tugged on his pants, indicating that she wanted also to play a part in the game. He abided by her demand, and soon he had both children hanging from each arm.</p><p>The Dragon Queen was watching them from her place in the table. Usually, she would give Tormund a sharp look to warn him to be careful of what he was doing but this time, her big eyes were lost in thought, and the expression reminded him of Jon's brooding.</p><p><em>They are kin of each other</em>, he recalled.</p><p>On the table, she had her white cloth and the dark liquid with which she wrote her symbols and runes. Tormund knew that they were called <em>letters</em> and they served to move the voices from one side to another. At least that was what was said among the clan's inhabitants.</p><p>By the time she finished with her duties, kids ran to the bedroom. </p><p>"Tormund," she called him when he was about to leave. He heeded and turned around. "Did he love Ygritte?" she asked. </p><p>Tormund almost chocked in laughter because it never crossed his mind a question like that coming from her. He looked baffled and his expression contorted in surprise. </p><p>"I think you should ask Jon-" he answered, scratching his beard with discomfort. </p><p>"Tormund," she repeated, "Did he love Ygritte?" </p><p>The irreverent part of him wanted to answer that Ygritte was Little Crow's great love because he always thought that before he had known how deep what happened between them was. In no way had Jon's agony in the last years could be compared to the young boy's lament for having lost his first love during war.</p><p>It was different, he believed.</p><p>"Yes. He loved her," he confirmed. "But I think that he loved - loves you - more."</p><p>"It's not a competition," she said pointedly. "Why he abandoned her?"</p><p>Tormund sighed with great regret as he recalled the past, on how affected Ygritte was by Jon's abandonment and betrayal. It was not the right time, he told himself. With this in mind, he could see with better light the Dragon Queen's chilly behavior. He was not unaware of the rumors that said Jon evoked these sentiments in women. That he is destined to ruin them somehow. </p><p>"He was a crow. A kneeler." Tormund replied. "He didn't like our ways. He still is wary with our methods."</p><p>Daenerys - Dany, as she has asked them to call her, reclined to the chair backrest and unfold her hands above her belly. She was thinking again. Tormund hoped he hadn't messed up things worse between her and Jon.</p><p>"He is always trying to do the right thing," she said. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><em>Ygritte</em> made her sad for reasons that surprised Daenerys. It didn't hurt her to know that Jon had loved another before her, probably even more than he believed to love to her. Rather it saddened her that she, this Ygritte, also had been abandoned by him and died after it. </p><p><em>He uses them, makes them weak</em>, the voice of Jarl resounded in her mind.</p><p>She came across to that idea when she came back, alone and ruined, growing his children within her as if, after having taken her life from her he still had the power to put her under terrible pain. Because that what Daenerys thought back then. <em>H</em><em>e used me</em>.</p><p>Daenerys brushed off those thoughts and tried to focus on the present. She searched her feelings and had to admit to herself, for the first time, that she still loved him. She was not able to harm him, be unfaithful to him, or imagine herself loving another person.</p><p>And he had killed his favorite sibling to save her and so far had shown no remorse. </p><p>What did this mean? Why couldn't she stop feeling a bitter taste in her mouth? Why was it so hard for her to trust his love again?</p><p>
  <em>He uses them and makes them weak.</em>
</p><p><em>He used you and make you weak</em>.</p><p>Dany brought both hands to her face and covered it, stifling another cry of despair. Before long, she heard a noise coming from the children's room and she was grateful that they were involved in some mischief that would distract her from those pernicious thoughts.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>If there was one thing Tormund Giantsbane would never say no to, it was to a good fight or to a good celebration - after a good fight.</p><p>A raiding group had returned with great loot, apparently venturing down the west coast. Men returned with their stolen women and the spearwives with their treasures. It was damn good news in so long and he was in need of that after getting his arse smashed waiting for Jon's return. He did not forsake his promise to have an eye on his woman and children and actually thought that the Dragon Queen - Dany, he corrected himself again -, could do no wrong in shaking off that death spirit that haunted her with some celebration. After all, she had beat death. </p><p>He hoped that seeing this side of his people would make her cold heart warm with them. Tormund did not know her very well but had seen the men she brought with her from across the sea and they were deranged just like them. Although small, she seemed the type of woman with a lot of strength inside her. Just like their women.</p><p>If it wasn't her, at least the kids would have to learn to be part of the free folk. That they were already exceeding their mother.</p><p>"So the boy had ya' hair," Tormund commented on the way to the settlement. Jorian ran ahead of them even with snow handicapping his steps. His and the mama's hair was changing to a soft fair coloring. Not completely white yet. "My people can care less about the color of ya' hair."</p><p>"Yes, he does. What will they do if they found out I've come back? They know Jon killed me."</p><p>The fact she knew that surprised Tormund. Mayhaps Jon had told her.</p><p>He played it down, huffing.</p><p>"We're simple people, <em>Dany," </em>the sound of that word was foreign to his mouth yet. "They'll probably think you're a ghost at first, they'll tell stories about you two at the campfires until it's just that, a tale."</p><p>Jon's woman sighed. "Well. That's all I am those days," she said.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Where is the dragon?"</p><p>Daenerys was startled at the sound of Jarl's voice coming from the shadows. She had turned away from the group of people Tormund had introduced her to. The children danced alongside the younger women around the campfire as she observed in silence from the distance. She had not felt this alone around so many people since her early days with the Dothraki, after her wedding with Drogo.</p><p>"How did you know that?" she asked instead of denying it, heeding Tormund's advice. </p><p>"Someone told me," he replied, approaching to lean on the same tree she was leaning on. </p><p>Daenerys rolled her eyes. Jon believed this wouldn't happen and again, he was wrong.</p><p>She did not respond to his question and just shrugged. She felt numb at that point. </p><p>"How he did it? How he made you lose the other two?"</p><p>"He did not," Dany snapped. "My dragons died because of my mistakes. Jon Snow did not cause me my losses. I ruined myself." </p><p>Jarl scoffed.</p><p>"And you still don't believe me?" he made a pause to drink from his horn. At that moment Dany felt curious since it was an item that reminded her of the Dothraki. Without thinking it too much, she stole it away and drink from it. It tasted disgusting but she endured it. "So," he resumed with an amusing smile. "He didn't kill you."</p><p>Horn still in hand, she remained silent. Her head and stomach were burning but she ignored it welcoming the numbness of mind for at least a moment.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Papa!"</p><p>Jorian's voice broke through the bustle and at first, it was as if lightning struck had hit him. It took only a few days away for Jon to realize how much he loved and needed them. There was nothing he wouldn't do to be in that moment forever.</p><p>Jorian bumped into him and Jon lifted him up into the air, Missella close behind, approached more stealthy but with a broad smile that made his heart fluttered with joy. She clung to his leg. Their faces were dirty with soot and he guessed they were playing around the big bonfire. Jorian's hair had begun to fade from that unnatural dark color. </p><p>He had not imagined that Dany would agree to go down to the settlement for a celebration in his absence.  Tormund's powers of persuasion were limitless, he guessed.</p><p>He approached Tormund who was conversing - screaming, actually - in the midst of a group of other clansmen that Jon had begun to become more familiar with. He recognized some of the carpenters who were helping with the construction of the docks and the spearwives who had returned from the last raiding tour. </p><p>There were a few new faces too. </p><p>However, the face he was looking for was nowhere to be seen. Jon tugged on Tormund's collar.</p><p>"Where is Dany?" he asked in a harsh voice.</p><p>Tormund made to point at one corner and he froze when he saw that there was only darkness and emptiness in this place.</p><p>He sent the children with Munda back to the cabin and set out with Tormund into the woods, while another group remained in the surroundings.</p><p>Jon's heart raced and was pounding against her ribcage. It took only a second to lose sight of her. A moment to lose her. </p><p>He stopped dead on his track when he heard Dany screaming. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She had approached the riverbank without realizing that Jarl had followed her. She emptied her stomach there and cleaned herself with the icy water, not caring that it was burning the skin of her hands in a way that fire had never done. When she felt the wildling man patting her back, she felt another wave of nausea hit her.</p><p><em>What am I doing?</em> she wondered, feeling out of place and embarrassed.</p><p>Then, she heard another movement coming from behind and them and she supposed it was Munda or Tormund looking after her. It was none of them but the woman that she had found in Jon's bed that first day. <em>Val</em>.</p><p>Dany couldn't end figuring out what was happening when the woman charged against them with a knife in hand. Instinctively, she threw herself aside and shouted in pain when something hard hit her forehead. Jarl also pushed her further away, taking the attack himself.</p><p>For a moment, she thought she was too tired to fight again against death and she just wanted to surrender. However, these were not her enemies coming at for her.</p><p>She was about to be slain by a hating woman. </p><p>Dany looked up carefully and noted that Jarl was trying to contain Val as she fought in his arms to reach her. Barely the moonlight illuminating something. </p><p>There was blood on her white coat but it wasn't hers. It was from Jarl, who was bleeding out somewhere. </p><p>"Val! Jarl! Stop this madness!"</p><p>Dany turned her face to watch Tormund and other people coming from the forest. Between them, it also came Jon, who first looked at them in disbelief before shifting to a dark, outraged expression.  </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Chagrined by the scandal, Dany made her way to their cabin, ignoring Jon's voice behind her. Before she could cross half the settlement, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into one of the shacks. Her heart sped up and all her instincts sharpened, trying to wriggle out of it.</p><p>"Let go of me!" she shouted. And he obliged by jostling her to the hay in the ground.</p><p>Breathing hard, Dany turned on her elbows to face him, meeting his contorted face.  </p><p>"Seriously Daenerys? You let Jarl inveigle you into this?" He spoke with disgust, in an angry and almost desperate way.</p><p>"Into what? I was talking with him!"</p><p>He growled and ran his hands through his tousled hair. </p><p>"You are not a fool, Daenerys!" he pointed at her with his finger. "Was this your first conversation?"</p><p>"What are you sayi-?"</p><p>"He wanted to steal you!" he shouted, "If you let other men believe you a free woman, they will take you by force and kill you if you resist. That's the law among the free folk!"</p><p>What annoyed her the most is that he was assuming she was, indeed, a fool, that did not let them clear she was loyal to him. And that only enraged her more. </p><p>"It was Val who attacked me!" she said, standing and pushing him. "It was Val who cut him while he tried to defend me. It was Val who was in your bed the first day I came here. It was Val who already tried to seduce you." He let her be as she circled him, changing places until he was in the direction to the hay. "It was you that brought me here and let me alone with people I don't even know. It was you who killed me! It was you who abandoned me! It was you who knocked at my door! It was you who willingly bent the knee and gave me your crown! It is you the reason I am nothing now!" She thought she would cry saying those words but she felt strangely enraptured. </p><p>"Dany," he grunted her name while coming to cup her face with a strong grip. She closed her hands over his wrist. "Dany, please tell me what's going on in your mind. What do you want? Why are you doing this? Please, talk to me." He was breathing unsteadily like her. Just then Dany started smelling the blood. "Is that you hate me? You can't forgive me, is that?"</p><p>Daenerys forced him to release his hold on her. She needed to step back and took in the sight of him in order to ask herself that same question. After everything they had gone through, everything their existence meant to each other, ending up in a place like this, forgotten by the rest of the world when they were ever on top of it...Dany just wanted to know how they ended up there. </p><p>Rather than answer his question, or consequently face her own uncertainty, Dany opted for a simpler path.</p><p>With determination, Dany punched his chest and shoved him onto the hay where she had fallen minutes before. She never knew where she got the strength to knock him down or if he was just taken aback by her audacity. Before he could react, she followed him, straddled him and kissed him, sealing his lips with hers to also silence all the words that might come out of them.</p><p>Jon growled in response, making a feigned effort to wriggle out before reciprocating and hugging her to push her closer to him. His hands eagerly sought to remove the bloody coat from her, as she pulled the black cape from his shoulders and began to work on his jerkin's ties.</p><p>"Dany," he halted her, breathing hard. His hands cupping her face and in his eyes a silent plea for her to confirm that whatever was happening between them was right. </p><p>"Do you want to stop?" She asked barely conscious, her mind clouded by the heat of the moment. Maybe her mistake was not asking him that in the past. He frowned in response before repelling her suggestion by closing the gap between them and reattaching their lips in a kiss.</p><p>Her hand slipped into his pants, finding his cock already hard. He pushed her hips up and she jumped, surprised. She supposed it was true that he had not been with any other woman since their last time together.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He has not forgotten a single detail of what it was like to be with her, and yet all his senses were consumed by this sensation. He straightened up and hugged her, holding her still in place to adjust himself to the smothering feeling. She held his head nuzzled into her neck, her rapid breathing next to his ear, just as overwhelmed as he was.</p><p>Before he could make a fool of himself he slowly prompted her to start moving. She felt tight, warm, and dampened. Dany panted and obliged, circling him first and bouncing a little before clutching at his forearms to set the pace.  The obscene noises of skin slapping against skin only caused him to seek to speed up the process, almost unable to control himself. She shut her eyes and continued to whimper barely a thin voice as she tried to not loose balance in his grip. The bleached locks of her hair bouncing in front of him.</p><p>There were several occasions where he thought of her this way. Several nights where he had to avoid the look at her because her nightgown embraced too well the curves of her body and he had to keep his hands for himself. Nights where he took care of the matter himself.</p><p>He had never stopped wanting her. But he also wanted to be with her, not in the aggressive and desperate way they were attacking each other now. However, his lowest instincts won over his prudence the moment he saw her in the riverside between Val and Jarl.</p><p>Seeing a stain of dried blood on her bare neck, he remembered Jarl near her and his pulse quickened. On an animal impulse, Jon brought both hands to the front of her gown and broke the ties that kept the fabric together, exposing her breast for his mouth to take.</p><p>He cupped them and squeezed them before lowering his mouth on each one. Dany cried and panted at this, sitting back against him and pulling at his hair for a hard kiss. Their tongues clashed and he sucked on her swollen upper lip. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys  (XVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He drew back, taking her with him and began pounding inside her as she felt that sensation forming in her lower belly. She sucked on the skin on his neck, stroking his nape almost instinctively while whispering Valyrian words in his ear whose meaning he did not know but were enough to send him off to the limit. He brought his hand to the place where she needed him most and Dany shut her eyes tight as the surge of pleasure hit her senses, drowning her in tender numbness. He followed her not so long, filling her with his cum, both uncaring of the consequences as if they didn't have enough problems.</p><p>Exhausted, she made to move but he stopped her, wrapping his arms around him and breathing into her neck. She forced herself on top of him and looked into his eyes one last time before giving him one last kiss.</p><p>"I don't hate you. I will never be able to hate you," she confessed with tear-filled eyes. "But I can't love you completely either."</p><p>And with that Dany separated from him, lying on one side to stare absently at the ceiling.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Of all the things that could have survived the fire, what Tyrion least expected to find safe was the portrait of Tywin Lannister that now hung in his quarters as a constant reminder that he would never be enough; a kind of self-imposed punishment.</p><p>In the evenings, while reading letter after letter from the various informants he had inherited from good Lord Varys, Tyrion emptied his wine flagon while the serious eyes of his father looked at him with contempt.</p><p><em>After being on top of the world, is this the best you can do?</em> He imagined him saying. He wondered what he would have done and the immediate answer was: win.</p><p>By the time he stepped on Westeros alongside Daenerys Targaryen and her vast armies plus three dragons, Tywin Lannister would have gone for it all and won the war.</p><p>A fatal blow was better than a long agony, he used to say. And he was right. His intention to get it all had cost a hasty price that Tyrion hadn't even paid for. Or so he believed. Almost half a year had passed since Bran informed them of Daenerys' whereabouts. They had purged the entire city in search of the worshipers of the red god, but by the time they took action, they were already gone. The King, powerful as he was, had his own limitations and the territory of R'hllor was closed to his sight.</p><p>The frustration had him so enraptured that he had withdrawn into himself to the point of forgetting to use those abilities to deal with mundane problems like the fucking uprisings in The Reach. <em>Another brilliant idea of yours</em>, he heard Tywin's voice say. <em>Place a complete stranger in the most important castle that still stood</em>.</p><p>He drained dry another goblet and continued to write his responses on the parchment, imagining how satisfying it would be for Daenerys to return and end that long agony he had inflicted on himself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the delay, days of midterms.</p><p>(noises of mate) I never take what I write very seriously, but in case it's not clear: Dany is depressed AF.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Let's go out in flames so everyone knows who we are.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>8.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Let's go out in flames so everyone knows who we are.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He found them asleep in Jarl's place.</p><p>Dawn was upon them, and the ashes of the bonfire scattered in the morning mist. Jon didn't know how long he watched them, curiosity and awe within his anger. He got a glimpse of what they do last night and a far-flung part of him understood about that craving now.</p><p>Val had cut a slash from his left pectoral to half Jarl's belly, and the scar on the warrior's bare chest reminded Jon that the wound was intended for Daenerys. </p><p>
  <em>"What happens when a man tries to steal another man's woman?" he asked Tormund, some hours earlier when Daenerys and the children were safe on their home again. His voice sounded strangely indifferent. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tormund grunted. "Think with ya' head, little crow. Jarl is one of our best warrior and war is coming."</em>
</p><p><em>"Aye," Jon replied, clenching his fist above Longclaw's pommel. "War is coming</em>. <em>And might he won't be here when is upon us."</em></p><p>Jon strode to the bed and shoved Val to the floor before dodging Jarl's reaction and getting him to stumble out of bed. The door opened and Munda and her sisters held a screaming Val while Tormund and company took Jarl.</p><p>Jon didn't consider himself the leader of anything among the free folk. However, as no one seemed to be taking control, he preferred to take the first step rather than wait for something else to happen. And since he had taken the initiative to build the harbor and helped with the installation of the market in Hardhome, he had become a kind of reference in the clan. Until now he had refused to acknowledge it since he saw no use for it.</p><p>But as his trusted men dragged Jarl to the center of the settlement where his punishment awaited him, Jon felt again that young boy who had been made Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and power felt good in his hands.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Let him go."</p><p>It had been a little over a week since the incident, and he preferred to pretend that nothing had changed. That despite the things Dany had said to him, he could ignore the pain her words caused and accept what she was offering her: a love conditioned by the past and an uncertain future.</p><p>Jon looked up at her, who had waited for the children to collect their things in their room before speaking to him. He knew who she was referring to.</p><p>He took Tormund's advice and did not execute Jarl as he initially wanted. It was true that he was a very good warrior. And that's why he tied him to the mast to test his resistance, as they would do in the Night's Watch to those rookies who came from the South.</p><p>Jon sipped his soup and then calmly replied, "No."</p><p>At first, it had been about his anger at the mere fact that he approached Daenerys after Jon warning him not to. However, as the days passed and he watched him die in slow agony, something twisted happened in his mind, changing Jarl's image for Tyrion's. For Sansa's. For Bran's. For Sam's, even.</p><p>He was not prepared to let it go.</p><p>"You are punishing him unjustly," Dany insisted. </p><p>"He attempted to take what's mine," he rebutted. </p><p>She wrinkled her nose and turned serious at that comment. If they were going to share a bed, at least she had to admit she was his.</p><p>"We are not them," she said, trying to be at ease. "We are not wildlings. I'm not your property. And he was not trying anything because I told him that I was going to be always loyal to you."</p><p>He stood up to take the empty recipient to the counter. </p><p>"You should have told me about him," he commented, at the bitter memory that she kept their meetings a secret from him. <em>Why?</em> </p><p>"And what would you have done then? forbid me to associate with him? pretend that I will listen to you?"</p><p>Jon leaned against the counter and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to hold back an answer that he would probably regret later. If she had spoken, just say a few words to him, of course, he would have explained to her who Jarl and Val were.</p><p>And he probably would have taken Jarl on a visit with the pack of Ghost, to save himself the trouble.</p><p>"You say you don't know <em>them</em>," he turned around to face her.  "I do. So let me deal with them."</p><p>"And Val, where is she?"</p><p>"With the spearwives, they won't let me punish her," he explained. "She knew what he was trying to do. They both are insane. They push themselves over the limit over and over, and then, they fuck as if nothing has happened."</p><p>She pulled back a little with this information, and he remembered the time she mentioned that a Dothraki wedding had to have at least three deaths in order not to be considered boring.</p><p>"Is not very different from what we did," she said, and Jon understood she was referring to them an not to the Dothraki.</p><p>He nodded.</p><p>"He has killed over a dozen men already just because Val lured them to believe they could take her. That's how it works. It's twisted but they are like that. I wish I could make them change but that's not my place. I only can protect my family."</p><p>Jorian and Missella walked out of the room and Jon appreciated the interruption. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Every time she crossed the settlement and saw Jarl, she wanted to run and untie the rope that held his arms to the pole. This was savagery typical of the slave cities, something that reminded her of the crucified slaves in the streets of Astapor. She couldn't stand it anymore.</p><p>It took a few days for her to find out where they placed Val but thanks to some women's talk during the lessons she could walk to an isolated cabin near the forest where she was held captive in the same fashion her partner but, in her case, sheltered from the cold. </p><p>Ghost, who had been following her everywhere since the incident, created the necessary distraction for the spearwives that were guarding the door, without alerting Jon to her presence. Since that night, it was clear to the inhabitants of the small community who she was for Jon, and now more than before, people were careful in their treatment towards her. Dany didn't know what to do with it. </p><p>As Dany walked in, she could hear Val's clenching her teeth. She rushed to place a coat over her small figure. </p><p>"What're ya' doin' here?" she asked, above her trembling. </p><p>Dany sighed.</p><p>"I've come to end this nonsense," she explained, working on the ties in her wrists. She jumped back when Val attempt to attack her.</p><p>"If you untie me," she hissed, "I'll end what I started before."</p><p>She shook her head. This was not the first harsh treatment Daenerys had to tolerate. </p><p>"If you do that," she warned, standing, "the wolves will eat you alive. Besides, Jarl will die if you don't help him."</p><p>Val shrank back at his mention. </p><p>"Where is he?" she cried. </p><p>"Can you walk?" Dany asked her, returning to untie her. After checking she could move, both women leave the cabin.</p><p>Distracting the men who were guarding Jarl was more difficult. This time Ghost remained distant, almost as if he knew he was an accomplice. Daenerys suggested that she would walk in front of them and pretend to slip on the ice as Val proceeded to untie Jarl. Val scoffed at this idea and went to take a bow to take the matter on her own hands. Dany balked at this, but soon the wildling woman set the arrow on fire and aimed to the boathouse. </p><p><em>Well, I'm not the only one that burned things down</em>, she thought.</p><p>Both women went to liberate the rattled warrior who could barely stand on his feet.  They ran to the forest where they parted ways.</p><p>"Thank you," Val said with a whisper, staring at Daenerys with sincere gratitude beneath all that hating attitude. </p><p>"Just don't come back," Dany replied. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes rolled back and a little pant left her mouth as he hit a spot inside her that was leading her to the peak, her mind totally clouded by the sensation. This was not like any of the times they made love on the boat to White Harbor, or on the way to Winterfell. Not even on the few nights they've enjoyed each other's company at the Stark's ancestral castle. Neither of them was professing unconditional love now and in a way, at least for her, it was liberating not having to carry those blinding feelings anymore.</p><p>He was angry, she felt it in each movement, each touch and each kiss he put on her body. Without being a savage like Drogo, and much less a braggart like Daario, Jon had his own form of malice that at times made her think that indeed, there was dragon blood in his veins.</p><p>During these moments, both of them overlooked all the signs and continued as if nothing bad was happening.</p><p>Dany thought at first he wouldn't welcome her in his bed anymore after what she did. Notwithstanding this, he did receive her each time that - ironically - she took the plunge. And only she did this because she was certain he desired her, as well. Not because she believed he loved her as he preached. </p><p>And she liked to believe that she was good with him, whispering sweet nothings in his ears, letting him know how much she loved him in spite of everything that ebbed that love. She confessed to him how much she appreciated that he was the father of her children, and how good he was to them. In response, he would look at her with his expectant eyes, stroking the side of her face before kissing her to silence the doubt in his mind that knew - as she knew - that something was, at the end of the day, uncompleted and broken.</p><p>This time when both finished with the other, he just rolled over his back. No glances, no aftermath kisses. But it didn't surprise Dany, she knew he was wroth with her, after all.</p><p>"I know you freed them," he said. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His head throbbed as a sharp pain washed over him. It was early morning hours and the absence of any incentive for his mind to start working, his body seemed to reject the fact that he had to stand up and present himself to his king.</p><p>When a body gets used to being trashed, he thought, there is no right that could fix it.</p><p>"Podrick, how long has he been like this?"</p><p>Tyrion asked the lad as he walked in to see Bran the Broken in his absent presence. </p><p>"Last night he woke up once to ask the seneschal to send a letter," he replied.</p><p>Tyrion scowled at him, taken aback by this unnatural behavior. Bran never communicates with the rest of keep's household but <em>through him</em>. This made Tyrion realize the king could be functional when he deemed it.</p><p>"Do you know what the letter contained?" </p><p>Before Pod could answer, they heard the king's monotonous tone.</p><p>"Tyrion. Come closer," he ordered. </p><p>The Hand of the King complied, passing through the archway that separated the rest of the chamber from the bedroom and finding the boy-king sitting on the bed.</p><p>"Your Grace," he greeted with feigned courtesy at that point.</p><p>"There is movement in the East. I found Drogon."</p><p>He sucked in a deep breath. </p><p>"And Daenerys?"</p><p>His regular expressionless countenance wrinkled at the mention of their current affair.</p><p>"I can't see her," he responded, some other meaning beneath the response. He's been emphasized about not being able to see her. "I've been watching Jon. He's still in the North. I think we should bring him to the capital before what I think can happen, <em>happens</em>."</p><p>"Daenerys finding him and killing him?" he made a jest though it was the most obvious course of action that anybody in he stead would take.</p><p>Brandon did not react. Instead, he said, "Send word to Queen Sansa. Tell her I know where to find the strategic point to attack the wildlings."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Jorian, what are you doing?" Daenerys asked, lifting her eyes off of her writing and seeing that her son was going through her things in the trunk. </p><p>He, who was still quite unruly despite the effort both parents put in quenching his tendency for temper tantrums, protested: "I want the story of the Winter King!"</p><p>Jon, who was lying in the chair with Missella on his chest as they read the story of the Lady of the Butterflies again startled when hearing that name. Dany also shrank into her seat.</p><p>"We didn't bring that one, sweetling," she explained. It was an old story she wrote for them. </p><p>"No!" he cried, throwing the stuff he pulled out with rage. "Mama, let's come back home to look for it!"</p><p>"<em>Jorian</em>," Jon warned with his demanding tone as he did when their son started to lose his temper. "Collect those things and placed them back where they were, <em>gently</em>," he emphasized.</p><p>The child obeyed his father with dejection and the sight of her son with a low spirit made Daenerys try to amend her dereliction towards him.</p><p>"Sorry, sweetling," she stood up to walk over where he was on the ground. She snuggled him on her and put a light kiss on the crow of his head now with silver curls like hers. He nuzzled on her neck and Dany sighed in relief. Sometimes she just couldn't believe how lucky she was. She pulled back and stared at his gray eyes. "Lenton iksis dombo," she explained that <em>home, </em>as they called the other house<em>, </em>was no more.</p><p>He looked down to where she was wearing a necklace with her mother's ring, fidgeting with the object between his small fingers. </p><p>"Se skoriot iksis ziry?" he asked in return, wondering where home was.</p><p>"īlon glaesagon kesīr sir," she replied, stating that they lived here now. Jorian smashed his face on her breast in response and started sobbing silently. </p><p>Dany started swaying him in her hold, whispering calming words. </p><p>"Once upon a time," she began the tale he was looking for so desperately. "There was a king who lived in a distant land where winter lasted for years. He was a man with a good heart who led thousands of soldiers to save the world from the cruelty of another king, who wanted the night to reign forever. The people around him quarreled and seemed to disagree, notwithstanding this, the winter king brought everyone together, and together they beat the other king."</p><p>Dany knew the story was longer, but she couldn't remember every word she had written. She didn't think back then that they would ever learn of Jon's existence, so creating a heroic image of him was better than just nothing, or a vile lie like what happened to her and the stories of her mad father.</p><p>Jorian calmed down and settled on her.</p><p>"I want to be like the winter king," he commented. </p><p>Dany laughed. </p><p>"<em>Aye</em>, do you?"</p><p>Jorian lifted his stare but got distracted at the sound that came from behind them. Dany also turned around. </p><p>Still with Missella sitting on his lap, Jon had leaned down with one elbow on his knee while covering his face with one hand. </p><p>He was crying.</p><p>She has never seen him that way. It was heartbreaking, it made her feel uncomfortable, not because the act itself caused her embarrassment or shame but because it was something she didn't know how to react to.</p><p>Jorian escaped her grip and walked confused to his father.</p><p>"Papa, are you sad?" he asked. </p><p>Jon looked up at Jorian, speechless. He wiped his face with his hand and stared at Dany in silence ask for help. However, she remained stunned.</p><p>Then another sound caught their attention. A noise.</p><p>Missella touched Jon's wet face and started singing. They were not words that he could understand, nor did Dany sometimes, but the sharp sound of her voice was a sincere gesture of love because their girl was a natural caregiver and many other times before she'd lost her voice, she had done the same with her mother.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"I am ready."</p><p>After the children are already tucked up in bed, she enters his room, determined to end their mystery.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Tell me what happened the day you killed me."</p><p>"Dany..."</p><p>"I promise you, I am ready," she insisted. "Please, Jon."</p><p>He was sitting on the edge of the bed, arms on his legs, and joined hands. He looked terribly defeated.</p><p>"What's the last thing you remember?"</p><p>"The night before at Dragonstone. After my last meeting with Tyrion and Torgo Nudho, I went to sleep. No, I..." she shook her head, "I decided I need to eat something, I've spent days just...staring at the river, I waited for his bones to somehow reemerge to shore so I could burn them. I didn't want to leave him alone." She made a pause, the memory of their children too present still. She cleared her throat and continued, "A girl from the kitchen brought me dinner, her name was Martha, and she...she seemed nervous, I should have suspected that something was wrong but she was just a girl. "She let out a sigh, remembering another occasion, long years ago, and finding it strangely amusing how she was fooled by a child again.</p><p>"And then?"</p><p>She swallowed hard and turn away from him.</p><p>"The knife, your hand on it. And then just the darkness."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He did not want to. He had been willing to do it the first time they met, but now Jon felt he was about to lose what little they had. As damaged as it was, he didn't want to lose it.</p><p>It was also the fact that the knowledge could also harm her more than she already was. </p><p>"You burned the city," he whispered, "Common people. Women. Children. Everything burned."</p><p>He heard her sob softly. Still facing away from him.</p><p>"A day after, you returned. Don't you remember where you went?" he wanted to avoid the crux of the issue.</p><p>"No," she replied.</p><p>He nodded.</p><p>"You came back and you gave a speech in front of the Unsullied and the Dothraki. You said it wasn't going to end. That the wheel needed to be broken."</p><p>She turned around. </p><p>"Breaking the wheel," she repeated. </p><p>"Dany, please, don't let me do this," he pleaded one last time because he knew what was coming after it will definitely push her further. </p><p>"I did want to do it. I did want to burn Red Keep," she admitted. "But I was still afraid of doing it. This was something that has always haunted my mind. Using all my power or not."</p><p>"Grey Worm," he cut her off, "He killed the Lannisters soldiers, the ones that had already surrendered, on your orders. And you imprisoned Tyrion. He said that it was something it was meant to be but both of us were unable to accept, because we love you." Jon stopped midsentence, standing up. "He talked about the slavers you crucified, the khals you burned before."</p><p>"I killed the slavers that crucified children before! I killed the khals because they said they were going to rape me and kill me! I never have killed children! How how...how you believed him?"</p><p>He asked himself the same question so many times.</p><p>"Dany I just saw you burning King's Landing," was the only response he could provide. </p><p>"It didn't cross your mind something was amiss?" she asked almost like a plea. </p><p>"I'm sorry Dany. I thought that Tyrion knew you better. I thought that everyone was right and I was wrong. I'm so sorry."</p><p>She took her hands and brought it to her head.</p><p>"Stop asking for forgiveness! Stop!" she demanded, exhausted and breathing unsteadily.  "So you went to the throne room and kill me."</p><p>Jon let out what little air he had left, falling back on the bed.</p><p>"I tried to dissuade you. I told you about the children burned on the streets I...I asked you why and you did tell me that it was the only way to show them that your mercy can't be used against you. You...you wanted to build a new world. Were only you decide what it's good." He shut his eyes and finally admitted, "You and I."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>She froze.</p><p>Jon looked up to her with eyes full of regret.</p><p>"You asked me to be by your side."</p><p>"And what did you say?"</p><p>Silence.</p><p>"We kissed."</p><p>She retroceded some steps. Her hand going to her chest.</p><p>"You killed me while kissing me?"</p><p>"Dan- Dany," he attempted to stand and approach her but she screamed too loudly.</p><p>"Don't fucking touch me! I craved for your love and then you did that? How can you say that you love me what twisted conception of love do you hold?"</p><p>And with this, she left the room that they had hardly begun to share.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After that, something finished breaking between them. Again, no words were needed. </p><p>He told himself at first that letting it be was making the mistakes of the past again, and so he came up and almost harassed her so they could talk. Dany not only ignored him every time but made her intentions clear by avoiding him as much as possible, waking up in the mornings before him, and returning late at night when he had already tucked the children into bed. In this way, talking became an unfeasible task.</p><p>Where she spent this time? He was sure a large part in the Hall where she kept on with her lessons. Jon knew from what they were talking about in the settlement that she didn't leave until the last child or adult learned the lesson for the day. Then she would walk away from the area and that's where she hid her trail. Or so she thought.</p><p>One night when she came back and he was waiting awake, he asked her to stop. That it was dangerous.</p><p>She scratched her chest with her hand, a gesture that did not scape him, perhaps as the effect of involuntary memory. Then she nodded and they did not speak again.</p><p>In order for her not to disappear to avoid him, Jon had to learn to accept her rejection.</p><p>Luckily, the children seemed to not notice the changes in the slightest. When Dany backed down, he had to take her place on some chores he believed she would never give up on, such as bathing them or tucking them in at night.</p><p>In spite of her anger, her rejection, or her displeasure with him, nothing of this affected his relationship with their children. Even he came to think that it was a way that she made up for the years of absence.</p><p>This is how the moons passed, and it was like living with an <em>absent presence</em>, which was not far from living without her at all, their children being the only memory that she was real. And he let her be because of his fear of doing something that would really drive her away.</p><p>As long as she was around, even if it was an agonizing existence, he was willing to accept everything.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Lord Glover."</p><p>That day was a particularly good day. Maybe it was the effect of Maester Wolkan's experimental medicine or the fact that great news had come from Braavos, but Sansa was able to make her way across the room without feeling thorns dig into every part of her body.</p><p>"Your Grace," the old man saluted, kneeling before his queen.</p><p>"Your presence is welcome, my lord. I hope everything fares well in Deepwood," she said, rounding the table and taking her seat in front of her desk. Normally, she received her guest in their chambers or in the Great Hall. This was an affair of state, and she wanted to be clear that it was an urgent matter. </p><p>"We have had better times," he let out a slight complaint.</p><p>She raised an eyebrow at him.</p><p>"Better times are coming," she replied.</p><p>He let out a snort.</p><p>"The Starks are always promising that something is coming."</p><p>And we comply, she wanted to risk an answer but she restrained from doing so.</p><p>"You have heard that I have called the banners to resolve this conflict with the wildlings in our territory," she said in a stern voice, sharping her gaze at him. "Your absence on the day of the meeting with my sworn men seems even more outrageous coming from the man whose previous contempt during the great war could've costed his head if it wasn't because of my benevolence."</p><p>Lord Glover did not yield. </p><p>"Your brother bent the knee to the Mad King's <em>mad daughter,</em>" he spat. "Good she's nothing but a rotten corpse the worms are feeding with."</p><p>Sansa took a breath and let the grotesque comment pass. After all, she, too, was content with the disappearance of that line of insane people.</p><p>"If he wanted the ancestral home of the Stark to be defended by hordes of savages and eunuchs, then so be it. That's what I said to myself and my men. And it was a good decision. Thanks to this, the North still has soldiers."</p><p>"I could have sent my butcher at for your head, but for the same reason I didn't. Because first and foremost, I've always put the North above everything. So, it's time to reciprocate, Lord Glover." </p><p>"A war against wildling."</p><p>"I need you to retake Bear Island. They have concentrated on the east coast and left the west unprotected. We'll proceed from there."</p><p>"It is the territory of the mountain clans, why not ask <em>them</em> for help?"</p><p>Sansa shifted a little in her seat.</p><p>"There was a misunderstanding. One that I plan to remedy as soon as Bear Island is taken back."</p><p>"Your grace must know that loyalty is costly," he said, dangerously lowering his tone. "My son died following your brother Robb."</p><p>"I'm sorry it happened. However, you are still a vital man who can father other children."</p><p>"That's exactly what I say, my queen. And you have to continue with your family line, or am I wrong?"</p><p>Sansa jumped, caught off guard by his suggestion. It was an issue that she has tried to ignore since they put the crown on her head, and she grateful that her troubled kingdom didn't let her dwell on the matter.</p><p>The mere thought of it made her shiver with sickness. </p><p>"I'm going to cut off your tongue next time you dare to disrespect me that way."</p><p>Lord Glover scoffed.</p><p>"So what's the point of reigning, your grace? Or have you forsaken your queen's duties?"</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Originally, this was going to have 7k words. I narrowed it down to 4k because I'm not sure of the line of events that follow. This happens when you are very bad planning things haha. The good news is that I will probably update tomorrow.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Let the breeze block sadness drop.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>short one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>9. </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Let the breeze block sadness drop.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"<em>...I am pleased to announce our endeavor at Bear Island has resulted in an early victory for my forces. The few wildlings that outlived the battle have fled and we have taken control over the keep within the palisades. I've sent my scouts already to trace the path towards the place Her Grace has aimed and we believe our forces would reach its destination in two moons time. </em></p><p>
  <em>I hope this news finds you in good health. I look forward to finishing this dull affair so that we can move on with those matters that are of true importance to our kingdom.</em>
</p><p><em>Yours very sincerely, Lord Robett Glover</em>."</p><p> </p><p>Sansa let out a defeated sigh as Maester Wolkan finished reading the missive reporting on the success of Glover's forces to retake Bear Island. It was supposed to be good news, but Sansa couldn't taste a shred of happiness with her.</p><p>After sending Wolkan away, she stretched out on her bed and allowed her handmaiden Hali to massage her legs. The pain came and went worse at that moment, with her mind clouded over the affairs of her kingdom, Sansa found it difficult to focus on her condition.</p><p>"Is it true what they say, your grace?" she asked while applying too much pressure to her calf and making her give a little cry.</p><p>"What they say?" Sansa questioned, frowning, and rubbing the bridge of her nose.</p><p>"That you will marry that man. Lord Glover."</p><p>A shiver ran through her entire body at the mention of that topic. <em>Disgust</em>. Her stomach churning with embarrassment. No. She had not accepted any proposal but was in a big bind if Glover returned from his expedition victorious. His mischief in the Great War had left him better positioned than the rest of her vassals, and his refusal to follow Daenerys was even more appreciated than Sansa's silent move to effectively give them independence.</p><p>"Certainly, I'm not looking forward to it," she replied.</p><p>"And have you sworn yourself to him?"</p><p>She sat upright and looked at the girl with annoyance. </p><p>"Why is that important?"</p><p>Hali turned a little without stopping her message. </p><p>"I know may I be crossing the line with your majesty, but the God's wroth can fall upon you if you break an oath, again."</p><p>She shrank. </p><p>"I didn't make any oath and the Seven are not punishing me."</p><p>A sharp pain hit all the nerves that went from the tips of her feet to below the level of her belly. Sansa wanted to kick the girl.</p><p>"I mean the Old Gods, your grace," she corrected. </p><p>Sansa leaned back against the cushions that kept her in a more or less comfortable position.</p><p>"Olds or Seven...they are all the same," she sighed. "They don't care about what's happening beneath their noses. So, please, Hali, make silence."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>After several visits of Salladhor's fleet to Hardhome, the town began to grow and fill with people from other clans who found the most suitable place to settle. They were not yet ready to become an active community that the other cities identified on a map, but at least they now had some control of the territory from Eastwatch to Hardhome, with the settlement growing stealthily.</p><p>Dany was treated with great care and respect. Women - even the spearwives, modeled their own clothing and hairstyles according to what she wore and she had begun to accept invitations, actively participating in community life. </p><p><em>It's you who she doesn't want</em>, he remembered himself.</p><p>Since she learned that he killed her that awful, deceitful way, she's been keeping her distance from him. Every time she looked at him, there was no hatred in her eyes but something worse: <em>disappointment</em>. Until now, her indifference and anger had not mattered to him. At least if she hated him she would still have every right to do so and the part of him that never stopped hating himself, wanted her to do so. </p><p>Unfortunately, Missella still did not utter a single word, although she was avid with the readings and understood perfectly what Jon and Daenerys taught her. Sometimes she would sing, but it was more like a hum, and only on rare occasions.</p><p>One day when Daenerys kept insisting, to the point of scaring Missella, who brought her little hand to her mouth. Jon determined that it was too much and for the first time he went against her in front of their children. Her response was to disappear again, his only assurance was Ghost, who followed her constantly. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He took a deep breath and walked forward. His steps made enough noise for Dany to realize he was there, yet she had barely moved, beholding the panoramic view of the settlement above the rocks she made her sit.</p><p>Jon was no stranger to the concept of staying long periods of time locked in his own mind, but Daenerys was always opposed to him in that regard, and when she wanted to express something, she just did.</p><p>Her silence was, in a way, a statement of that.</p><p>Haze clouds clear out the landscape of its colors and it blended in seamlessly with the mood. From where they stood, mountains and their snowy peaks could be seen, as well as the forest behind the settlement and the harbor that was now taking shape. There were a few boats approaching the shore, mostly local fishing boats trying to establish a kind of market. It wasn't something Jon could have to think about five years ago when they settled in. </p><p>Although it was daytime, one could hardly see a trace of the sun in the cloudy sky.</p><p>Without realizing it, Jon had imprisoned himself in his own mind, again. A loud sigh from Daenerys pulled him out of there.</p><p>"It is an impressive sight," she said after a moment. Jon agreed, though not necessarily for the same object of contemplation. "Did I ever tell you that when I was a child I told my brother that I wanted to be a sailor?" Although her back was turned, he could feel her smile at the memory and that made him do it too. However, she added, "I can still feel the itchiness and surprise that came over me after the slap he gave me."</p><p>Jon swallowed the lump in his throat and cursed, not for the first time, to Viserys Targaryen.</p><p>“He then told me that I should not spare a thought in stupid dreams. Which is strange because Viserys kept his in delusions.” Dany turned to look at him. “I was never a person of delusions like my brother, Jon. Never."</p><p>He took advantage of the fact that she had opened so that she could approach and kneel before her, reaching for her gloved hands. </p><p>He put his hands on either side of her arms.</p><p>"Tell me what I have to do, Dany."</p><p>She turned to see the river again.</p><p>"I've been coming here for a time, I saw the docks become a harbor. It's hard to believe how fast time runs, even when we stand still."</p><p>She was smiling and for a moment, she seemed happy. </p><p>He nodded and chuckled. </p><p>"Time doesn't wait."</p><p>"It doesn't," she agreed, "But we do. We wait, for what? I don't know. For answers maybe. For something to happen so we don't have to provide them."</p><p>He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. </p><p>"Dany, tell me what can I do to change this. To make you happy. If you can't forgive me, what do you force yourself to be with me?"</p><p>She looked at him with a stunned expression.</p><p>"If you believe that, why do you accept me then? Why did you let me use you?"</p><p>"Because I love you," he answered sincerely, even knowing that she could not reciprocate those feelings in the same way anymore. "I rather have you in pieces that not having you at all."</p><p>It seemed ironic that he ever thought he could get away from her. He believed it was just desire. That once that was overcome, each one could continue on their own. Then he killed her. She was gone. And the very idea of never seeing her again had destroyed him.</p><p>In this second chance life gave them, Jon didn't know what was right or wrong, except being with her.</p><p>In whatever way she allowed.</p><p>"Pieces," she said like she pondered it, "That's all I am now. Pieces of the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, of the Mother of Dragons, of Mhysa...of the Queen."</p><p>"You are more than that," he said, internally lamenting that she could believe that she was no less than extraordinary. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She closed her eyes when he said that, and thousand unnamed voices and screams of all those souls that had been lost under Drogon's fire returned to her, telling her that she deserved nothing of what she had.</p><p>Their suffering was more real than the coldness of this place. Sometimes she would remove the gloves that covered her hands to put them in the water and see if she could feel something else but it was useless, his persistent voices were still in her head.</p><p><em>Madness</em>.</p><p>Death was all she deserved.</p><p>Each time she looked into the eye of her children, she saw the nameless kids that would never laugh, cry, or play again. </p><p>She didn't deserve it.</p><p>Because she should've known better. </p><p>She should've run away the moment she got herself up there, in the arms of the same enemies that have wiped her family out. The Stark. The Lannisters. Lord Varys. All of them have nurtured a life of suffering and she believed she could confute that reality. </p><p>It was vanity, innocence, power, or the delusions of a deranged woman. She did not know. In the end, nothing could save her, and that last bit of information she had decided to unravel, the fact that he not only killed her but did so under a hoax, made Daenerys see how fragile she was. </p><p>They had both fallen into contemplative silence. Dany spared him long glances from time to time, as he kept his away, again caught up in his own thoughts.</p><p><em>I loved him more than he ever did and more than he ever will</em>, she thought with a sting of embarrassment for love shouldn't be this way. She gave everything she was to him, and now Dany felt she was nothing but a tool.</p><p><em>You are more than that</em>, he said.</p><p>And a tool she was. A very dangerous one. She must be eradicated in order for others to be safe. </p><p>When he moved to hold her hand, she let him. This man who has killed her after deceiving her cruelly, and after she had given her one heart that he used as he pleased and returned so broken that could barely work to love the children he also gave her. And for this latter, she loved him and respected him. </p><p>But she was now afraid of everything she was and was not by his side.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>It did not amaze him that the beast had resisted giving way in his mind, after all, the old saying that the dragons were not capable of being subjugated was true. Not unless magic incurred as an intermediary, and now he realized that <em>his</em> was limited. Conditioned.</p><p>The dragon placed his head between its talons, what little Bran could capture of his emotions was easy to elucidate: Drogon missed his mother and his brothers. He felt alone on that remote island of Old Valyria.  The part of his collective mind that belonged to Bran Stark could sympathize with the dragon. The part that held Brynden's memories and feelings insisted on accessing the beast's mind.</p><p>He needed a rider, that was the only way to control the dragon. When he accessed his power through the weakened mind of Daenerys Targaryen, it had been a strange coincidence that nonetheless he had not escaped from that strange impulse that pushed him to do and say things at the exact moment and at the right time.</p><p>The dragon was still bound to Daenerys, even after her death. He thought the connection with Jon Snow would take place after her passing but something else kept their link untouched. </p><p>He needed to know <em>what</em> it was.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Sh," Missella patted Jorian's back after his weeping had ceased. The boy had slipped in the snow during training - which they saw more as a game - and his pride had been hurt in the process. Although Jon approached to verify that everything was in order, Missella arrived before him to attend to her brother. As Dany used to say, she was a natural caregiver and a protective little girl.</p><p>Something that still stunned him was the fierce loyalty their children professed to each other. Since that night where he first met them, when Jorian took Missella and protected her from him and Arya, Jon has noticed that their children shared a special bond. </p><p>Jon remembered the stories Dany had told him about Viserys. He was glad that their little ones would not suffer that experience. Moreso, because unlike Dany and himself, they would have a family. Of that, Jon was certain. </p><p>"Iksan ēdrugī, Papa" Jorian said, rubbing his eyes with his hand's back. Jon understood very little of High Valyrian, but usually they would speak it when they were exhausted so he took in the message his son was trying to give.</p><p>"Little crow!" Tormund cried out from his back. Jon turned around. "We've got news!"</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After leaving Jorian and Missella in home, Jon, Tormund, and another group of warriors set out for the eastern territory from where a lone rider had arrived, alerted by attacks by an army of the kingdoms.</p><p>It could be none other than the Northern Army, Jon supposed. Indeed, they were. The forces of House Glover, Jon recognized by the banners they had left in one of the settlements they had attacked. </p><p>"They are coming for the settlements," he announced in a clear voice. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"What am I supposed to do?" </p><p>He found Dany in her cabin preparing dinner under Ghost's watchful eye. Jon did not elaborate on the details of the news that had come and limited himself to preparing Dany and their children for a retreat into the hills like the rest of the women who could not fight and the children.</p><p>She was notoriously upset and he didn't blame her, after all, this was what she wanted to avoid. War. </p><p>Jon was sure that Sansa would attempt an attack by east, although he did not think that it would arrive so soon, before finishing with the construction of the fence and the fortifications in Hardome. Much less did he expect them to find the location of their settlement.</p><p><em>Bran</em>, he knew. </p><p>"Be safe," he responded to Dany, who returned a distressed look.</p><p>"This wasn't supposed to be like this," she said. "We came here to be safe. To be together."</p><p>And he was going to make sure of it. However, they did not have time to discuss that. He had to keep them safe for now.</p><p>"It never goes as it is supposed to be," Jon replied.</p><p>"You know what I mean," she insisted. </p><p>He took a deep breath.</p><p>"Is this because of them or because of your pride?" she asked and Jon looked up to her with a constricted feeling. </p><p>Jon bent down to be at the level of his children. They both were watching the discussion of their parents in silence.</p><p>"Where do we go now?" Jorian wanted to know, and his question was fraught with childish fear and anxiety. Jon hated making this happen to them again.</p><p>"It's a short adventure to the forest, would you like that?" Jon said the truth masked as a game.</p><p>Jorian and Missella both nodded, enthusiastically. </p><p>"I'll find you when it's over," he promised and went to kiss their foreheads. </p><p>He stood up again and his eyes met Dany's. She was vacillating. Finally, she moved forward and kissed him, hard first and then soft enough for him to reciprocate with the same fierceness, pulling her into his embrace by the lower back.</p><p>"I love you," she whispered when they put and end to the kiss. Her forehead resting against his. He could see the determination in her violent eyes. "Don't do anything stupid that gets you killed. We need you.<em> I need you</em>."</p><p>Jon nodded, resolved to end any threat that could harm his happiness this time.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. So glad we've almost made it. So sad they had to fade it.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wrote this between pauses while I was writing legal documents (in Spanish, of course) so my brain is kinda fucked up.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>10.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>So glad we've almost made it. So sad they had to fade it.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"I have a theory," he began with. It was one of those rare occasions where the Broken King would allow them a peaceful moment. A flagon of wine and a luscious supper. Tyrion pointed his fork towards the King, on the other edge of the long table. "What if Daenerys goes to Jon and, <em>somehow</em>, she convinces him to join her. I mean, he was consumed by the guilt back then."</p><p>It was an idea he'd been pondering while waiting for his imminent death on his bed every single night. In any of those scenarios did Tyrion think that Daenerys would actually spare Jon's life, except if she could see some use of it. </p><p>"He's alone, ranging the true North," responded the King. "And I have seen a woman leaving his shack a couple of times. She is similar to Daenerys."</p><p>Tyrion almost choked with his wine.</p><p>"Who would say your brother, <em>excuse me</em>, your cousin would heal that soon."</p><p>"We need Jon here," he cut him off. "We need Drogon here."</p><p>Tyrion coughed, nervous. </p><p>"I don't know how that's going to work, your grace," he opined about his insistent claim to get the dragon. Bran shot a sharp look at him.</p><p>"You say the Kingdoms are on the verge of war again."     </p><p>"And we killed Daenerys because her method to deal with them was a problem," he reminded him. Bran smiled.</p><p>"Tell me Tyrion...why did you say to Jon she was a bad person all along. If that was true, then, why did you follow her?"</p><p>Tyrion stirred and before answering, he drained dry his wine. </p><p>"Because I believed I could change her," he admitted. </p><p>"You believe you could control her," Bran corrected. "You can't control power. Power is power." Then, he leaned back in his chair, hands clasped over his belly, in an almost self-satisfied posture. "Jon is with the wildlings. Fighting on their side."</p><p>Tyrion scoffed.</p><p>"It doesn't surprise me. Good thing you gave Sansa an advantage."</p><p>"It wasn't an advantage."</p><p>He, who was carrying a piece of roasted meat to his mouth, suddenly froze.</p><p>"<em>What?</em>"</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Zokli</em>, Muña, zokli," Jorian cried when they were climbing in the hills. Dany looked around, looking for what he had pointed out. Like the time Jon took them to meet Ghost, Jorian had said there were more <em>wolves</em> around besides Ghost, although Daenerys couldn't see any, just like now.</p><p>"Skoriot?" she asked <em>where</em> they were, a little bit scare of what that could mean, she only trusted one wolf and that was Ghost, who remained behind by Jon's side. </p><p>Jorian shook his head and continued advancing in front of her, in the company of other wildling children. </p><p>It was a relatively quiet climb. She kept her thoughts clear and whole rather than pandering to fear. Her children depended on her maintaining control. Their little minds couldn't figure out they were actually escaping from war. </p><p>The cold became deeper, getting into the bone as the darkness of the forest enveloped them in their cloak. Missella seemed not to succumb like her mother and brother, who needed to keep moving faster in order to avoid their limbs to harden. Dany had made sure to wrap her little feet in wool before putting them on their leather boots. </p><p>"Are you alright?" she asked Missella, who only nodded and nuzzled snuggled into Dany's shoulder. "Would you sing a song for me?"</p><p>Dany requested that, hoping she wouldn't get an answer back. However, Missella began to make a very slow buzzing noise that echoed in Dany's chest, warming her heart and calming her mind. The melody was from <em>Ser Jorah, the bear knight</em> song. When they were still too young for her to read to them, Dany sang those stories to them. In fact, she suspected that Missella had learned to sing even before speaking. Now all she did was singing. </p><p>As the humming became a song, another sound broke upon the stillness of the forest. </p><p><em>Wolves</em>. </p><p>She and the other people stopped walking, crowding closer, and fearful of what might happen. Missella stopped singing.</p><p>Suddenly lights glowed in the dark like lamps illuminating a dark hall. From the blackness, the silhouette of the wolves appeared in front of them and <em>around</em> them. Dany clung to her daughter and moved quickly in search of her son, taking him and another child out of pure instinct and placing them behind her to shield them. Her heart was pounding incessantly against her rib cage as if it seemed to want to jump out of her body. </p><p>But then, the one who commanded the pack turned around and the others walked in his direction. No person made a move as the group of ten or fifteen wolves advanced in between them, different colors, and sizes. </p><p>They weren't hunting them.</p><p>They were guiding them.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The wolves escort them to the ruins of what once seemed to be a small town, ruins that reminded Dany of the ruins of ancient Dothraki cities, and she was genuinely surprised that such a structure could exist in this a remote place and remained standing after so long. A woman named Svalene recounted tales about a great fire that changed the free folk lives forever, and she listened to it intently, feeling somehow moved by a story that resembled the events that led to the Doom of Valyria.</p><p>They settled in an abandoned hall, built based on wattle walls, she supposed. The place was surrounded by a modest fence that was intended to mount a sort of defense that Dany dreaded that could be set on fire and catch everyone inside if the foe came this close. She took notice of the backdoor route that led to the caves. </p><p>Jorian and Missella fell asleep a soon as she prepared the furs for them, having exhausted all their energy on their little adventure on the forest as their father dubbed it. Dany put light kisses on their head and remained by their sides, reassuring her mind they were safe and real. Each time she saw her children she had to remember herself that.</p><p>Finally, she got up and stepped outside. </p><p>The wolves didn't stay long though their howls could be heard nearby even when the first light of the morning started to lurk on the horizon, deflecting against the hills and breaking into thousands of golden sparkles. In spite of its harshness, the North was beautiful, Dany had to admit. </p><p>An old memory of a conversation beneath the furs and between tangled limps and endless embraces crossed Dany's mind. A time they fooled themselves into believing things were simple. He would talk about the North and she would talk about the East. The emotional charge of those moments threatened to bring her down and she was soon forced to give up on those thoughts, bury them with her discouragement and continue to focus on the present.</p><p><em> If I look back, I'm lost</em>.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The first few days went by relatively calm as they awaited news of the settlement. The children had quickly become accustomed to the change of space since by their own wander nature, kids of the free folk had not finished getting used to it either. Nature was their eternal playground. Dany thanked Missella and Jorian would see it as it. </p><p>She herself was a person who could easily adapt to drastic changes, as much as she hated that reality of herself. She was much less proud than before, of course, or perhaps more withdrawn, in any case, she did not feel treated like a foreign whore amongst these people. Dany felt respected and tended. The other mothers shared their stories and she found out that their lives were alike in some extension: they all lost children, husbands, their families and they all had decided to build themselves again from the ashes of those previous experiences. It was reassuring in a twisted way to know that she was not alone in her suffering. What is more, she realized, these people had fought for the Seven Kingdoms, for Winterfell and received only spurn in exchange as well. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jorian was uncomfortable with his new nickname among the children, "<em>the</em> <em>Whitehair</em>" and asked Dany if she could repaint his hair black. She explained that their hair was special and unique, like that of the kings in the stories his father had told him and his sister. Soon Jorian shared those with the other children and now their plays had been about the war of conquest and goat paths. </p><p>Dany's own hair had returned to its natural silver which in combination with the whitish landscape seemed as pale as Ghost's fur but brilliant as the glint of the moon. No one asked questions except for a woman named Frara, who was at the age of twelve when she saw a woman with the same hair that flew above her village with three dragons. Jon Snow's Dragon Queen, they called her. </p><p>"I'm not a queen, and I have no dragons," she replied, simply, ending further questioning. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The borrowed peace disappeared like the colors of sunset slowly descending the horizon. And It happened when the wolves had stopped howling at night.</p><p>An old man, his name was Harolf - if she wasn't remembering wrong, he was attacked from behind as he walked back towards the hall. A woman who walked nearby ran in time to give them notice to close the fences and mount the defense, as Dany and Svalene carried the children to the back.</p><p>Dany feared that it was a great danger to be inside as well as outside, so she sent for someone to make sure that the outside entrance was predisposed for any emergency that might arise.</p><p>A hunting group, removed from the main army that made an encampment in the Fist of the First Man. That's all they knew. </p><p>Their mocking laughter echoed through the night closer and closer. There didn't seem to be many, a group of four or five men. Enough, Dany thought, to do damage. An idea flashed across her head but she wasn't sure she could do it again.</p><p>"Hush, be quiet!" she told the kids who were all snuggled up with heavy furs. It broke her heart seeing them confused and scared. </p><p>She dared not to think they were around here because something bad happened at the settlement. Dany made her best to stay out of pessimist ruminations. But at that moment all the worst possibilities crowded her unstable mind. </p><p>Sounds of metal cutting through the walls of straw and wood made everyone inside the hall begin to tremble and sob. Everyone except her who closed her eyes and gulped hard. It became the crash of something heavy and then a fall. Something heavy that was thrown until it hit the hall door.</p><p>Someone on the other side kicked and then the door gave way, revealing the figure of a northern soldier. Inside the hall, everyone started screaming and pilling up at the back door. </p><p>They barely noticed that the figure was barely moving. Only Dany noted something amiss while being still relatively calm: <em>blood</em>. The man was covered in blood. He knelt down and fell to the ground, as the children began to scream.</p><p>Behind the man, two other black figures appeared: Val and Jarl.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>An exasperated Val entered the Hall with her ax covered in blood, earning a reaction of fright from her own people, who already knew her for her savagery. She made a nervous gesture and began to rush them out.</p><p>"There are more coming and we won't be able to face them all together. Move!" she shouted at them. Her tone worked to get them out of shock and people made to move before Dany had stopped them all with a simple wave of her hand, walking forward to face Val. There were more people coming, they couldn't escape that way. She also needed to know where these two mad people had come from.</p><p>"How did you-?" she began, but Val cut her off.</p><p>"We own the forest, Dragon Queen," she explained, heedlessly. "We've been spying on this little shits for a while."</p><p>"The settlement. Our menfolk. What happened there?" Svalene asked. </p><p>Jarl walked slowly towards where Dany and Val stood. </p><p>"We've been avoiding the settlement. Snow made himself clear and ya' too," he pointed out to his people. His eyes shifted to Dany and recognition ignited in them. He made no comments of the affair that led Jon to punish him or her to free them from his rage. He just nodded while looking straight into her eyes. <em>Respect</em>, she supposed.</p><p>Dany turned to look at Val again, "You said there are more coming. We can't go to that direction and risk us to cross paths."</p><p>Val rolled her eyes. </p><p>"I know the forest, I'll lead you back home. If necessary I'll mislead them," she said too calmly, wiping the residual dirt off with a cloth she found on the ground. "Northmen they called themselves but those kneelers know nothing of the forest and why it's haunted. I've seen them die thousands of stupid deaths already."</p><p>Her accent was so harsh that Dany had actually to guess the words. </p><p>"There's a way out through the caves behind that door, I'll found them when we first reach here. Do you know where they will take us?" Dany asked, pointing out at the back door.</p><p>Jarl and Val frowned and took a look at what Dany was signaling. </p><p>"It would be longer," Val complained. </p><p>"It'd be safer," Dany corrected. Or so she did believe. </p><p>"It's colder. And that's were tales tell the Ice Spiders live," Jarl mentioned casually, leaning easygoing on the wall. </p><p>Dany let out a sight. </p><p>"Very well," she said, resolved. "We have to clear the path and lend help to our menfolk."</p><p>It seemed that Val wanted to protest when Dany said that but it was actually surprising that she would recognize them as her own people. </p><p>"What do you have in mind?" Jarl asked, curious.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><em>Set the fences on fire</em>. That was what Dany told them before receiving a long, sharp, questioning look from the mad lovers, as she decided she would dubbed them. It took a time for them to fully understand her intentions but after she reassured them of her ability, they abide by her command to take the people to the caves until it was safe. </p><p>Before commending her children to their protection, Dany warned the couple, "Any harm that befalls my children will return to you with fire and blood."</p><p>After this,  she waited in the hall until the rest of the hunting party began to arrive. They were not too superior a group to the previous one, and some had wounds of battle on their bodies.</p><p>There would have been at least thirty men, she believed.</p><p>Dany herself was enough of a vision for them to jump in fear and attempt gods' knew what. She didn't think they had recognized her, with her hair hidden and figure covered in furs and wool. </p><p>The trap was easy. Once inside, the men did not find Dany but the sparkle of a fire that burned until it became a great flame creaking to the first morning light, while she kept herself hidden where no eye could find her. </p><p>She tried to remember or imagine King's Landing burning, delving into remorse and guilt. The smell of burning meat and the screams only reminded her of the birth of Jorian and Missella, surrounded by zealots of the red god who sang and made sacrifices while Dany believed she was going to die again, this time in utter agony. Giving life to her children hurt more than losing her own life, at least physically. </p><p>Of the men and the hall, only ashes were left the next morning, as Jarl approached with a couple of women who purposely lingered so as not to leave Dany unprotected. They found her curled up on herself, a little stunned by the smoke and what just happened, covered in soot like when she first rose from the ashes, with three dragons pinned to her body.</p><p>Dany even thought as she listened to the agonized scream of the men who burned before her watchful gaze, that perhaps she would wake up and Viserion and Rhaegal would be returned to her.</p><p>But no, only she remained.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She feared that her bracelet would melt in the fire but luckily it survived and she wanted to believe that it was protecting her still of the eyes of that being. Dany thought what she should actually do about Bran Stark. King Bran Stark, she had to remember herself. First, it seemed only logical to send assassins to someone who was a killer herself. He was not the first King that needed her dead to secure his own stability as a monarch. She also knew it'd be Tyrion's logical choice, without suspecting he had already done it before. </p><p>Nonetheless, the more time went by the more Dany asked herself: why? Why was she letting herself and her children endure such martyrdom?</p><p>The group reunited in the ruined town, this time in an encampment Val and Jarl helped to mount. Dany did not completely trust them but she had to admit that their help was helpful, and to some extent a relief. Val continued to be harsh even when of both of them, she was the most obliging and predisposed, helping with the food, the children, and on one occasion, with the birth of a baby. She was not only a warrior that enjoyed men's suffering, Dany noted.</p><p>Jarl, on the other hand, much more careful in his treatment towards Daenerys, continued to stay away and patrol the area each time a group of them left for the forest in search of food.</p><p>She couldn't help but ask herself if they were trying to gain Jon's trust back.</p><p>"I killed thousands," Dany admitted to him once, loud enough so only he could hear her. In response, he looked over at her, scowling. "Jon killed me because I took my last remaining dragon and set on fire a city where thousands of elders, women, and children lived."</p><p>He scoffed in response. </p><p>"It's the law of existence. To live, to die, to love, to kill. But love shouldn't kill. Love should give you life."</p><p>Dany knew she wasn't about to convince another murderer about her own sins. She tried to look at him and see the murderer but only found a man that would likely die on his own law someday, as she came to see Drogo for a time. </p><p>"He gave me life. He gave me my children," she said with a whisper. "Are you planning to revenge on Jon? Because I won't let you hurt him."</p><p>This time he let out a burst of loud laughter. </p><p>"No," he replied, "I respected a man that does that for his woman."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>A lone rider arrived to report that the danger had ceased and that it was safe to return to the settlement.</p><p>The return was much more arduous although it took less time. Val had good reason to brag about how well she knew the Haunted Forest, since at no time did she seem lost and in fact, at all times, she was sure what path they had to follow to avoid any danger, be it man or animal.</p><p>Her children were less anxious and she thanked any dainty up there that this time they saw all the events an adventure their father settled for them. </p><p>"What if they are still battling?" Svalene asked with a fearful tone. "We have no other place to go, mayhaps Hardhome if we find enough boats!"</p><p>"A wanderer mentioned the battle exhausted the northern army," Jarl prompted, surprising Dany that asked nothing and avoided to think about that. "The wall weakened the strength of those southron kneelers."</p><p><em>Southron</em>, Dany thought for herself. And she called them Northerners. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The place was so destroyed that Dany feared for a moment that they were indeed all dead. Her heart sank into her chest. They peered into the ruins of what appeared to be the battlefield, finding only blood and debris that resisted the decomposition due to the frozen preservation of snow. Jarl had insisted that the children should come down and observe what a battle was, but Dany was unfailingly opposed to that idea, leaving them to Svalene's care.</p><p>The only place that seemed more or less preserved was the Great Hall. Dany marched there, prepared to face whatever they found.</p><p>There was a celebration. Cheers and screams from an audience that encouraged the continuity of some activity that took place within those four battered walls.</p><p>Dany abandoned her integrity and began to despair of Jon's fate. </p><p>As she moved forward, the sound became clear and thunderous in the way only the free folk could celebrate. When they opened the doors they found their menfolk in the middle of a fete, high on elation and joy. In the middle of the hall, the serious and solemn image of a man in black, his long sword at his side as shouts of victory sang around him.</p><p>Dany walked slowly until she was in front of Jon. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He never felt more powerless than when he had to be cautious and respect war plans. Although Jon was not particularly bold or unbridled, nor a warrior of the free folk with a thirst for gore and glory, Jon found being prudent a hard task. </p><p>They went up there through the Milkwater and settled on the Fist of the First Man. Jon did not want to underestimate them, but it was a risky move that revealed that they themselves believed the free folk did not pose a threat. He sent men to alert neighboring settlers of these attacks and collect all the support they could get. </p><p>You've fought to defend Westeros from the dead and the Northern Kingdom failed to recognize you. As simple as it sounded, it was enough to propel a renewed sense of being wronged. </p><p>"I'm ready to drive my ax into the skulls of those ungrateful arses!" shouted out Torvir, one of the deadliest warriors remaining in their group. The man was almost a giant. He laid a finger on Jon's direction. "But I warn you, King Crow. Better not be another ruse because I swear I'm going to take that pretty woman of yours that you brought from across the sea and-"</p><p>Before he could finish that sentence, Tormund jumped and punched him. </p><p>Jon thanked him, his hand already on Longclaw's pommel.</p><p>"You all saved the Kingdoms, especially the Northern. The least you deserved is for our old agreement to be respected," Jon asserted, ignoring Torvir's loud curses on the ground. He was sure that the others also had their reservations regarding his loyalty, however, they were silent and respected his authority as he was the only one who could guide them having knowledge of how such an army was deployed. "Now, follow the plan and everything would be fine."</p><p>Jon would not have expected the Northern forces to attempt such a bold attack so soon, let alone with Sansa in the lead. Their fortifications were not finished. </p><p><em>It's not Sansa</em>, he reminded himself. It's Bran. Only Bran can know his exact ubication, and if he had provided it to Sansa, it could only mean that he was looking forward to a gain from this affair. Wrath boiled through Jon's veins at the thought of those who he had considered his family until not long ago, for whom he had been willing to sacrifice everything he had left. Even if he would not blame them for the decisions he took, the malice he had persisted in denying in the past continued to haunt him to this day, prowling near him as a latent warning that nothing finished yet.</p><p>Jon took a deep breath and calmed down, searching through Ghost for traces of the enemy in the forest. He looked up and catch a glimpse of a crow lurking nearby. </p><p>"Loose at the crows," Jon commanded. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Lord Glover was a diligent commander, Jon appreciated that. His weak point was the lack of knowledge of the terrain he attempted to subdue but he compensated it with his vast experience in warfare. It was unwise to use cavalry, so only a group of scouts had originally approached from the west to explore the settlement.</p><p>It started deliberately and cautiously. While in the other settlements they had attacked by day or night indiscriminately, they were being stealthy about theirs. Jon deduced that they were aware of their preparation for a surprise attack.</p><p>The first squad came over a fortnight after they first heard of their attacks. He knew Glover was just probing his adversary. Sending them back with an early victory at the cost of the warrior's life seemed unjust but war was not a fair deal, he had to remember himself. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He hadn't thought in Rhaegal for so long that the traces of their shortlived bond almost faded from Jon's memory. However, he recalled the ease he had experienced above his back, while he beheld the view of Glover encampment and thought, fleetingly, how he wished to erase its existence in the same fashion he had rained fire on the wights he had eluded. </p><p>"Those fuckers are taking us longer than the fucking dead," Tormund complained. </p><p>"We ended their kind so the men can live," Jon replicated, "And while men live so does war."</p><p>The words came out of his mouth spontaneously but it had been a constant thought during the years that followed the Night King's defeat. Why he had been ignorant of that reality, Jon did not know. But there was a time when he believed that it would be enough the existence of a common enemy to unite the kingdoms. That did not happen. Reality frequently disappointed. It was Dany's numbers, Dany's resources, Dany's dragons that made that victory possible.</p><p>At the time, perhaps accustomed to having failed other times to judge people's character, he had allowed himself to believe that he had made the same mistake again, the sight of the destruction she caused in his mind. </p><p><em>I loved her and because of that I gave her my crown</em>, he told himself and let others believe. But that was not true. It was more than love. It was about sacrifice and duty. She knew the quest for living was more important than the throne, and she pledged her forces before he had given her something in exchange. It could be said he gave her nothing but losses even then. </p><p>"There are many of them, little crow," Tormund commented, a hint of discouragement in his tone.</p><p>Jon only nodded. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><em>Don't do anything stupid that gets you killed. We need you. I need you. </em>Dany's voice resounded in his mind as he rode up to the Fist of the First Men with only a small retinue. It was Ghost's presence that gave away his identity, and the possibility of a parlay with Lord Glover. </p><p>He was older but as bold and ferocious as he was all those years ago. Jon believed he would act harshly on him but the lord approached him with wide-open arms, boasting that he was the hero of the North, the one who ended the dragons once and for all. His identity - the true one - remained a buried secret, apparently. </p><p>The sympathy of the man tasted as disgusting to him as the fetid smell of a wight.</p><p>"I imagine you are here to negotiate," he said, as Jon watched the riverbank where his modest ships moored. "Your sister, the Queen, is a temperamental woman. Her experience in King's Landing has helped her deal with Northern affairs, but her lack of knowledge in the war has led her to make horrible decisions. A war against wildlings, after all this time...what a waste of time."</p><p>Jon scoffed. The last time he held Sansa in a hug, he prayed to the gods in his mind that his poisoning feelings for her would disappear. The poison only spread. </p><p>"You don't belong here, Jon Snow. You belong to us. Join us. We'll spare the lives of the men that you favored."</p><p>"I cannot go back. I am a deserter," he excused. </p><p>"You committed no crime. You liberated the North from the dragon whore!" At that point, Jon had all his strength put in restraining his most vile impulses. "You are nothing but a hero. And your sister will not fail in recognize you."</p><p>"That's why she sent for me?"</p><p>Lord Glover coughed, taken aback.</p><p>"Why, after all this time, would Sansa want me back?"</p><p>"I told you, Snow. She can be cunning but things are not that simple, with her illness-"</p><p>"Illness?"</p><p>Glover turned his expression serious. </p><p>"There's been talking, you know. About what comes after...<em>after her</em>. She doesn't want to marry. Your sister Arya is dead. We already lost our King before and the southron took our independence away-"</p><p><em>And you stood and did nothing</em>, Jon wanted to yell at him.</p><p>"Those are dangerous words, my lord. Treachery is not the reason you came all this way. Or is it?" He did not risk to give a response. "We are all from the North, Lord Glover," Jok followed up, "The free folk fought for your land."</p><p>Glover snorted. Mayhaps he thought Jon was not going to bring up the subject.</p><p>"<em>Free folk</em>," he repeated with disdain, "If they want to be free, then they have to keep their wildlings arses this side of the Wall." Jon looked down to the ground, pretending to be fed up. Glover walked closer. "I know what is to be young and stubborn," he patted his shoulder, receiving a sharp glance from Jon. "I know what your father and brother were. And where they failed you have excelled them. <em>Abandon your honor</em>. Wildlings are not like us. They are vicious creatures. You already turned on the Dragon Queen. What is a bunch of savages in comparison?"</p><p>Jon agreed in the sense that there was no more honor left in him.</p><p>Lord Glover extended a hand. Jon didn't fail to notice he gave away important information about the current state of Sansa's administration he would give proper attention later, but at that right moment, all that matter was to finish this affair. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jon felt carried back into the past as he walked through the destroyed settlement, a clean battle that could not have been avoided anyway. The only thing that changed was the fact that he was walking alongside Lord Glover towards the unfinished harbor, where Salladhor's fleet was approaching.</p><p>The men of the free folk, tied up on the ground, looked at him with sharp eyes as he passed.</p><p>Glover was cautious, allowing part of his men to keep guard on their encampment near the Milkwater. The bulk of his army moved this far and was ready to continue advancing to Hardhome.</p><p>"I have to admit, Jon Snow. You may not be named a Stark, and Lord Eddard has been too prone to his own experience and the influences of Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn, but this is what your kin did. The Starks were conquerors, kings, men as deadly as the Targaryens with their dragons." As the man spoke, Jok gazed silently at the mountains. "It doesn't matter that your mother was a stain in your father's impeccable honor. The blood of the wolves runs stronger in you than it ever did or will run in that of your sisters and brothers."</p><p>"I am the blood of the dragon," Jon slipped. It was much simpler than he would have imagined.</p><p>Glover frowned. He seemed to believe it was a joke.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Jon took a deep breath, watching out of the corner of his eye the wails of the soldiers beginning to fall.</p><p>"My mother was not a stain in Ned Stark's honor. My mother was Ned Stark's sister, Lyanna. And my father, Rhaegar Targaryen." Glover walked a few steps back, bringing his hand to the pommel of his sword. Jon didn't bother to imitate the gesture. "I am of the blood of the dragon and the wolf."</p><p><br/>***</p><p> </p><p>Jon was prepared to feel apprehension and shame at having ambushed the man like that. He was even ready to demand the warriors of the free folk to respect the war codes. None of this happened, a general numbness engulfed him as he watched a still living Lord Glover being dragged, tied by a wild horse to his legs. They could have their fun as long as they didn't finish killing the man.</p><p>He did not partake of the savagery, of course, he just watched before moving next to Salladhor, who was enjoying the display.</p><p>"There is special rejoicing in seeing a Lord wallow like that. Even in fighting pits, you don't get such entertaining," he bragged.</p><p>His help was essential. Initially, he would have wanted to use his fleet to move Dany and his children as far away from danger as possible. The times would not have benefited him.</p><p>"What they have brought is not a great thing. The North has never been known to have a navy, but in a few days my men will accompany you there and you will be able to take over his ships and everything inside them."</p><p>Salladhor nodded.</p><p>"It is a fair deal. Dangerous, considering that I will have to go around the continent to bring them to this side. I have heard that the Ironborns are having their own fun. I even think it would be more convenient to keep an eye on that side of your kingdom."</p><p>"It is not my kingdom," Jon corrected him. "These lands do not belong to any king. The free folk only choose kings when the situation calls for it."</p><p>Salladhor scoffed.</p><p>"Very well. It seems that the situation called it and they have already chosen you."</p><p><br/>***</p><p><br/>In the settlement, Jon did not allow anyone other than Lord Glover to live. Soldiers who did not perish in combat, fed the wolves before they could run too far. Whenever guilt wanted to rule his good judgment, he recalled that these men's lives were bought by the men who served in the Great War, and even if it was still unfair, Jon decided he would prioritize the end over the method.</p><p>Dealing with the rest was easy. The time and cruelty of these lands were too much for Glover's men who yielded at the moment when the different clans of wildlings showed them the mutilated heads of their peers.</p><p>Hunger was another determining factor.</p><p>He offered them two options. Receiving honorable death for the kingdom they served or flee safely to the Wall, where they would be given free access to cross to the other side. Of course, without weapons and without armor. A little over a hundred of them chose to switch sides and join their ranks. Becoming free men.</p><p>Already on the wall, where the promise of safety died out, Jon gave the order for each man's sword hand to be cut off.</p><p>If Jon learned from this experience, it was that chaos should be mastered.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Why don't you kill me now, bastard?" Glover barely spoke, spitting blood, tied to the same pole where he tied Jarl a few moons ago. Jon found himself strangely fascinated by that punishment.</p><p>"Your sentence does not correspond to me," he replied.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany's presence silenced the celebrating crowd inside the Great Hall. Jon had lost track of time, but the moment he saw her again, his regular drab state turned to excitement and almost animalistic desire to take her right there, in search for pleasure or comfort, he didn't know.</p><p>She seemed confused but relieved. He was pleased to see her hair shine back to its natural silver.</p><p>Dany moved closer until she was in front of him. Neither of them knew what to do or say for a long time, in which they only looked at each other.</p><p>"Have you ever raised a sword?" It was strange that that was the first thing he said to her after not seeing her for so long.</p><p>Dany nodded.</p><p>"I'm going to teach you how to <em>use</em> one," he promised her, smirking. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon taught her a basic swinging in a couple of hours, letting her practice with logs first (getting painful results) and with a goat once (obtaining painful results) that only left the animal in horrible agony. Daenerys believed that was the point.</p><p>"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," he warned her while they walked to where this Lord Glover was. </p><p>Longclaw's weight would have hurt the muscles in her arms if it wasn't for the fact that she had already hurt them in the process of raising the twins.</p><p>"I want to," Dany determined, "For my people, and all those who perished fighting while he survived and lived this long."</p><p>Jon smiled and Dany thought to see a glimpse of approval there. Both heard what the other did, and though she feared he would dislike it, even scold her for it, he only asked her if the children were safe. </p><p>They stood in front of the rattled lord. Dany knew he was a dying man. </p><p>"When you forsook your duty, Lord Glover," Jon began, "It was not your king who you disregard but the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Daenerys of House Targaryen."     </p><p>Lord Glover spat blood in their direction. His right eye was almost popping out of its socket. Dany was still focused on finding the voices that haunted her in the silence of the nights, but she only felt fury at the thought of the Unsullied and Dothraki. In herself.</p><p>"So you let her live," he guessed, wrongly, stirring that matter Dany always wished to forget. "Another fool whom a foreign whore's cunt have deranged his own pride."</p><p>She would have laughed in other circumstances. That should be taken as an insult? a younger, more bold version of herself would have replied. </p><p>It actually was Jon who let out a mocking response, "Yes, she has a very unique cunt," he said, stirring a burst of laughter from the onlookers. Jon knelt and said something else that she heard hardly, but it was about her lack of knowledge on the use of a sword, that made the face of the lord contrite. Jon stood up.  "You'll wish for her dragon to have been around."</p><p>He turned around and look into her eyes, reassuring her. This was the plan. She didn't have to prove herself. This was her right. </p><p>"Any last words?" Dany granted him. </p><p>"Forced on my knees is the only satisfaction you'll receive, dragon whore," he chose. </p><p>Dany frowned. </p><p>"It's all a man like you can offer," she said with a soft voice, before raising her volume and pronouncing, "I, Daenerys Targaryen, sentence you Lord Glover, to die."</p><p>She did it horribly. It took minutes to finish separating his head from his body and in fact, she could begin to feel the burning in the muscles of her arms and the pain in her lower back. However, the adrenaline and cheering around her were somewhat exhilarating, a kind of savagery she had not remembered since she had eaten the stallion's heart in front of Khal Drogo's watchful eye.</p><p>When she finished, it wasn't Drogo's eyes that she met but Jon's, and it was then that Dany remembered that she had once promised to end all her enemies.</p><p>And her enemies were still alive.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>******apparently****** fifteen chapters is what I aiming to.</p><p>Thank you Crimson for the idea of the hands lol</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. I promise that I'll keep you safe.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fluffy smutty filler chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>They did not allow her to clean up before taking and dragging her to the Hall to start the celebrations. Dany was accompanied at all times, by Tormund and the other men that were the closest to Jon (that she knew very little of) or by Munda and her spearwives, who watched her with renewed awe after her display of savagery. </p><p>Daenerys was a little upset, wanting to go for her children, but Tormund reassured her that they were safe in the cabin. That Jon went for them.</p><p>Every time she tried to wriggle out of the hustle that surrounded her, someone pushed her back, not aggressively but in the fervor of the celebration. Only when Jon entered the great hall the free folk stopped harassing her. </p><p>Before his lascivious gaze, she became very self-conscious of her disheveled and bloody appearance. It wasn't the first time he had looked at her like that, but it was the first time he had done it after seeing her do something so monstrous. Where she expected to find fear (as before) now there was a renewed feeling of respect. Even worship, Dany thought. Her body trembled at the notion of it, and she decided she needed to keep her mind cool and away from those thoughts. She accepted the drink offered to her by a strange hand, hoping it wouldn't have the same effect as last time.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She was too tired to protest when Jon picked her up and carried her out of Great Hall with him, the cold making her snuggle closer to his chest. Her head was spinning, she felt again a little girl in Viserys arms, running away. The irony of this moment didn't escape Dany, giggling as Jon carried her back home.</p><p>"What are you laughing at?" he asked, just as amused by her reaction.</p><p>"You remind me of my brother Viserys," she told him, feeling him tightening his grip. "Not...in a bad sense," she corrected, lifting her eyes to look into his'. "He cared for me, once. I just-," she trailed off, staring around her. Everything was dark or in the best lighting, blue. She felt herself a little bit that color. "I feel a child. It's not right to feel this way."</p><p>"Because I'm carrying you?"</p><p>She sighed, snuggling back to his chest.</p><p>"Because I let you take care of me. Because I am defenseless when it comes to you."</p><p>Before she had slowly drifted off into sleep, Dany heard him whisper soothing words of love in her ear that in her heart, she wanted to believe.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She woke up in his bed, changed and more or less clean, and <em>alone</em>. There was something on her back bothering her, and for a moment she thought it was Jon. However, what she found was a rolled-up piece of fur that kept her from rolling over. She briefly recalled the day before and the day before that. Everything that happened in the last months. The last years.</p><p>Her head burned.</p><p>Then she heard Jorian's high-pitched laugh and Jon's thick voice in contrast. He was with the children, she deduced. </p><p>Dany made to move, receiving a strong blow within the confines of her body. She looked around for something to hold onto. And then she fell on the wooden floor. </p><p>The sound was enough for Jon and the children to come over and see her in this lame state. </p><p>"Mama, you fell from the bed!" Jorian shouted, assessing the situation with childish humor. "Papa, she fell!" he looked up to Jon, who only nodded in response.</p><p>Missella ran to hug her mother. Her hair still a mess.</p><p>Dany sat back in the edge of the bed.</p><p>"Dany, are you fine?" Jon asked.</p><p>She took a deep breath, Missella climbed onto the bed to sit beside her. Dany repressed the urge to comb her fingers through her untidy curls. <em>Jon didn't know how to comb it</em>, she thought. <em>I have to teach him how</em>. </p><p>Dany looked at her family. Yes, she was fine.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>One of the things he admired the most about the free folk was their endurance to overcome adversity. Within a few days, they had begun to rebuild the settlement. The dead were mourned, farewelled and their remains burned, but then life went on. Jon did not have that same strength. Not at least when it came to his family, Dany and their children.</p><p>In the aftermath, he sat anywhere where he would fall, and thought about everything that has happened. The way he did it. The decisions he have made. A moment of self-awareness that had been denied while planning the defeat of his enemies.</p><p>The first time he did this is after carrying Daenerys home from the victory feast, weakened in a not unpleasant way, after seeing her celebrate and be truly content after so long. </p><p>"Because I let you take care of me. Because I am defenseless when it comes to you," she told him and it pained him that they were not even words of hatred but of defeat. A reality that he wanted to reject but could not because he wanted and needed to protect her. After how much he had failed her, he needed this not only to keep it from happening again, but to show her, their children, and himself that he was deserving of this second chance.</p><p>It was a stab in the heart that she felt that way but Jon couldn't blame her. Who wouldn't in the arms of their killer? Nonetheless, this did not stop the fierce love they shared for the other. </p><p>He took care of her when she fell asleep, cleaning her body the best he could without committing any transgression. He settled their bed so it could be safe if anything happened while he was in the children's bedroom. And there, he did the same than before: he ruminated. </p><p>No more than two moons had passed but they had grown enough for Jon to notice the small changes in their children's bodies. Jorian had his shiny silver hair fully exposed, curls spreading everywhere. Missella, whom he had met with a crown of curls on her head, now wore them longer and sleeker. Their growth was unstoppable. Time doesn't wait, Dany said. </p><p>The next morning, he heard Jorian tell him about his adventures in the forest with awe and a chest full of paternal love, as the boy stands up in bed and mimics the movements with his wooden sword. Missella, once reluctant towards him, hugged and snuggled against his chest as she paid equal attention to her brother. Jon wondered if he will ever hear her speak. </p><p>Then when they heard the thump come from the next room, father and children ran to check that the mother was okay. They found her on the floor, still suffering the consequences of the night before.</p><p>Odd was the current state of their lives, he thought. But he liked it this way. He regretted nothing that he did that do it otherwise could've taken away this from him.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Half the day passed, there was still some light in the sky but it was becoming less bright as the sun went down. He had returned from checking that everything was in order in the settlement when he found Dany sitting on their bed and waiting like if they were to have a conversation. </p><p>"Were you down there?" she asked him.</p><p>"Aye," he answered, putting aside his belt with his weapons. He would've left them in the entrance had he known she was there. Dany still looked at him with wariness each time she saw him with them. "I've heard what Jarl and Val-"</p><p>"They helped us," she cut him off.</p><p>"Yeah, that's what I heard." Silence. He sucked in a deep breath. "I shall be very forthright. I don't like that they saw you doing the unburnt thing. But I am glad that you killed those men."</p><p>"Are you?" she sounded hurt. "The last time I did something like that you-"</p><p>"Dany," he pleaded. Eyes squeezed shut, Jon rubbed them and walked across the room, exhausted. "What I did...I can't take it back, even when I wish I could. I cannot change the past." He turned around and find her fidgeting with her hands on her lap, avoiding to stare at him. "I can only promise that from this point onward, I'll be truthful and loyal to you and our family. <em>Only to you</em>." </p><p>She looked up to him.</p><p>"I was afraid," she admitted, "I was afraid that something could happen to you."</p><p>"We are safe now," he answered, coming to sit next to her. Dany made no move to pull away, which was a sign that she was at ease, he believed. He took her hand and squeezed it. "And I will do everything in my power to keep it that way," he promised. </p><p>Dany seemed apprehensive but she nodded. After a long moment of silence, she spoke again.</p><p>"I want to kiss you," she said.</p><p>Jon startled. </p><p>She turned, her beautiful face only inches from his, though he knew she wasn't going to kiss him. Her violet eyes did not seem haunted or sad, though there was a repressed feeling in them.</p><p>I'm not certainly stopping you, he thought for himself. No was he going to move when he sensed how uncertain she was. Jon only raised his hand and stroked her cheek, to which she responded with a sigh. </p><p>"But I am afraid of you," she confessed. Jon stopped dead, and his hand fell limp to his lap. Dany was quick to take it between hers. "Let me explain myself. A part of me, who has lived so long with the image of this same hand killing me, is afraid." Jon pulled away and walked to the other end of the room, it was almost instinctive to shy away from that confession. He heard her standing and coming closer. "But I cannot bear the idea of you gone. Nor even away from me or the children. You know that I love you. I had loved you even before you had loved me. You have to believe me."</p><p>"And you?" he snapped, turning around. "Do you believe me when I say the same?"</p><p>Dany's expression wobbled. </p><p>"How are you sure that is not guilt?"</p><p>He pondered her words. It was like that? Was she seeing something he did not? Yes, he felt guilty for killing her after she committed no crime on her own volition. He felt guilty about having stolen their children's lives. Guilt and remorse filled him up. And yet, it wouldn't have changed a single thing about them. He couldn't put it into words. </p><p>"Because I know it, Daenerys," he stated, "Sorry, I cannot be as good with words as you are. But I've been truthful with you since the moment we met and I will always be."</p><p>She shook her head a little, gulping.</p><p>"And when you killed me by deceiving me? Were you truthful then? I don't care that you killed me! I don't care that you put a knife in my heart! There was no more of a heart to save at that point." Each word came out with such a rage that made Jon's own burst at the seams. Against himself, against the ones who wronged them and against her for not believing him. "Since I was brought back I've only lived because I have to. Because I carried Jorian and Missella inside me. Because Drogon was alone. Because it was my punishment. I did not question my existence and my fortune, anymore."</p><p>"I don't know what that head of yours had made up about my time here since that happened but I swear that it was not living. Dany..." Jon felt terribly defeated. "If you are still afraid of me pulling out a knife to kill you, to harm our children-"</p><p>"I am not," she rushed to explain. "I know you care for them. I know you love them."</p><p>"Just to them?" he questioned, outraged. "Dany, I didn't know about them when I crossed the sea to find you."</p><p>Dany winced. He could see that she was still hurt. That she had made up her mind about certain things about her life that changed too suddenly again. </p><p>"Why did you do that?"</p><p>"Because I cannot live without you." It was the plain truth. At the moment Davos told him she was alive and in danger, Jon knew he couldn't let that happen again. "Because I should have never hurt you."</p><p>Dany sighed, she looked as defeated as he felt.</p><p>"What you did here...Would this happen again?"</p><p>She meant the war, he surmised. Jon went to kneel before her. </p><p>"I don't know. I only know that I will not let anyone who represents a threat leave this place alive."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>Jon scoffed.</p><p>"Because the only thing that matters is my family. You and the children.</p><p>"And the free folk?"</p><p>Jon frowned, baffled.</p><p>"I appreciate them, but they want war and vengeance. That's all that unites us."</p><p>Dany nodded but kept a far off expression as if her thoughts were trapped somewhere else. Jon couldn't help but become anxious, looking down at his hand on her lap. He became too conscious of her appearance, again in the tan nightgown that turned him into a turd, green boy. </p><p>"We have to build a keep," she said, breaking the silence. "And we have to give this place a name."     </p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>She stood and passed him by, going to the reduced foyer of their cabin. He heard her looking through her things on the wooden chest. When she came back he was sitting on the bed.</p><p>She extended to him a large piece of parchment that appeared a map. It was actually a delicate, fine drawing. </p><p>"I'm not the best at mapping but it should give you an idea," she said, coming to sit next to him. Jon watched at the drawing attentively. "I know this was your idea, I just try to give it some form." He kept inspecting the design. She has thought in every detail, like a marketplace, the design of the streets, and where things that he hadn't thought yet should be placed. "Some of the tomes you brought for me of my-, <em>our</em> Uncle, they were about this stuff. Some of the things don't have sense to me, probably we will need people from Essos to come and help us. I thought we could consult Salladhor-"</p><p>"Dany..." he whispered, still in awe.</p><p>"We cannot afford to run away each time there are problems, we need to defend ourselves," she continued speaking, "I won't run away with the children, again. I want them to know what is at home."</p><p>Jon put the map aside. </p><p>"You right," he said. This she must have done it before the war against Glover, which meant she was thinking it even when they were apart, after he revealed the whole truth of her death.  "I want that too," he confided, looking into her eyes. The knowledge she envisaged a future together was overwhelming, and just there he could see what she was trying to tell him. There was still so much ahead for them but at least there was one certainty standing between them. "Dany, I want to kiss you too."</p><p>Dany blinked, surprised but then her lips parted and he knew it was safe to approach. In an instant, he breached the space that separated them and the flavor he had missed so much was again at his reach. </p><p>"Jon," she spoke against his lips, stopping him when he was just about to deepen the kiss and perhaps going further. She had a hand stroking his cheek and the other dangerously on his tight. "I enjoyed it."</p><p>He was confused for a moment.</p><p>"What thing?"</p><p>"Killing that man with a sword."</p><p>A smile appeared on his face.</p><p>"And I enjoyed the view," he replied, moving forward again but being halted back. "What?"</p><p>"I want to do it again. I want to know how to use a sword and kill evil men with her."</p><p>He knew it was a matter that deserved better treatment, however, at that moment, looking at the glint of excitement on her eyes, he felt his cock hardening just as the memory of her inexperienced attempt to deliver justice. And when she turned around and was all stained with his blood...it shouldn't cause what it was causing in him.</p><p>"I want to fuck you," he admitted. "You get to do it again if you let me fuck you afterward."</p><p>He felt immediately ashamed of what slipped past his lips. Nonetheless, Dany's broad smile erased any self-consciousness. She stood and walked toward the door, to which he frowned confused. Then, she closed it, grabbing a chair, and securing it. </p><p>"They will be up soon," she warned. "It has to be quick."</p><p>Immediately afterward, she threw herself at him and attacked his mouth, sweeping her tongue over his own while straddling him. Abiding by her command, he tossed her onto the bed and rose above her, capturing her lips again and massaging every part of her body that he found on his way until he squeezed her right breast above the fabric of her gown and she released a cry which he instinctively muffled with his hand. Dany opened her mouth to lick his fingers and he stroked her until his hand slipped around her neck, as he knew she liked it.</p><p>Attending her warning to speed things up, Jon picked up her gown, pulled her smallclothes aside, and proceeded to liberate his cock and plunge into her. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Dany bellowed and moaned with every lunge her body received as she clung to him with both arms, feeling his muscular body harden against her softness. Usually, she was the one whispering lewd words to encourage these wild encounters but this time it was he who had lured her into the abandon. </p><p>Soon, the inside of her clenched around his length and Dany bit his shoulder to silence her cry of release. He rammed harder and faster until he reached his own climax, and fill her up with his heat.</p><p>Dany felt at ease, instead of numb this time and when he collapsed exhausted above her, she embraced him to keep him close. After a moment of just silence and lazy caresses, he lifted up a little to see into her eyes.</p><p>"I love you, Jon Snow," she told him before he could say anything. </p><p>Jon trembled and bent down to kiss her. </p><p>Dany believed in his love then.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Brace the gates!" </p><p>"Archers to the battlement, now!"</p><p>Tyrion startled when the main gates pound. The very fragile structure that had survived Daenerys and Drogon fire, was resisting the attack from a revolt taking place on the other side.</p><p>He gulped and turned around, ignoring the plea of the Lord Commander of the City's Watch for the King to abandon his chambers and appear to enhance the morale. </p><p><em>If only</em>, Tyrion thought, walking back inside the security of the castle. <em>If only I had let someone else chose</em>.</p><p>The defeated last remnant of House Lannister marched into the chambers of the Broken King, the one who should have provided all the answers. His face was framed by a frown.</p><p>"Are you disappointed in me or in yourself?" Bran asked, from his comfortable spot in front of the window overlooking Blackwater Bay. "What unites people are stories, after all. There's nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it." The man that seemed forever trapped in the body of a boy, turned and looked at Tyrion. "Those people down there don't want to hear stories, Tyrion."</p><p>"You knew it," he accused, finally. "You knew everything that was going to happen. And you let it happen."</p><p>To acknowledge that he was wrong with Bran was to acknowledge that he was wrong with everything else. Tyrion was sick of being stupid.</p><p>"My informants sent me news from the North. Sansa lost Glover and his entire army. A man they call King Crow commands them."</p><p>"A Raven King and a King Crow, don't you think it's funny? Maybe you've mistaken the bird."</p><p>"Stop it," Tyrion bellowed, walking towards him, furious. Podrick, next to him and loyal to his duty, moved to shield his king. "Now speak clear, <em>your grace</em>, perhaps this is the last night we live. What the hell is going through that head of yours?"</p><p>"<em>Future</em>," he replied. "For the first time in a long time, I see the future, Lord Tyrion." He wore the thinnest smile on his lips. It was terrifying. "Most of people don't know that in order to have a future, we must leave the past behind. We owe that to future generations."</p><p><em>Future generations</em>. </p><p><em>Daenerys</em>, Tyrion thought his mouth opening and a chill traveling down his spine. </p><p>The gates of the chambers behind him opened, revealing a hooded figure approaching. Tyrion turned to inspect who he was, the way he walked too familiar for him. The unknown figure removed his hood, revealing a person he never believed he would see again.</p><p><em>Daario Naharis</em>.</p><p>"Da-Dario-" he stuttered before receiving his fist on his face, his body falling on the ground and his into complete darkness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The next four (and final) chapters are going to be lengthy and cover a longer period of time. I already want to finish this prequel and move on to the sequel. 👀</p><p>I cannot just walk pass by it and not address what's obvious. I assume that if you're here, in part, it's because we share the sense of justice that inspired Daenerys. I, myself chose to study laws because I think it is important to understand the system to change it (because it is a system full of flaws, that is undeniable). </p><p>For the ones of you who reside on the States, I am with you in your demand for justice and I wish the best for your country and that very soon you get an answer. In the meantime, please stay safe. Remember Corona is still out there.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. For all we know, this might only be a dream.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I can't believe those fuckers turned the Thenns into the Ice River Clans for the show. I'm following book cannon for this fic-universe, and the Thenns are the Thenns from the books.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>12.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>For all we know, this might only be a dream.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>When he regained his senses, he thought for a moment that it was all a very bad dream. He didn't know where the nightmare started. Whether from the moment Bran was chosen as a king or when he set foot back in Westeros. However, the cold marble of the column where he had been cornered, together with the calloused and strong hand around his neck said something different. Tyrion blinked and focused his gaze on the ferocious eyes of a beast that could not be other than that of a man devastated by the death of his lover. <em>Yes</em>, Tyrion thought. He had not been wrong in stating that Daario Naharis had fallen in love with Daenerys.</p><p>"Imp," he called him with a gruff voice, straightening his grip. Tyrion could not feel the ground beneath his feet. "I told her...I told her you will betray her. You made her leave me behind and she is now dead! I told her!" he screamed, bloodshot eyes. </p><p>Muffled sounds escaped from his mouth but Tyrion couldn't formulate the words because of the pressure on his throat. He looked in Bran's direction. To the King. How had Naharis broken into the King's chambers? The royal guard was quietly stationed in the surroundings and calmer was the monarch. Tyrion realizes it was deliberate. He was allowed in. </p><p>"Captain Naharis," Bran's voice beckoned the emotionally scarred man's attention. "Surely we can get more out of this exchange if you get hold of yourself and stop throttling my Hand."</p><p>"Shut up!" Daario bellowed out, squeezing harder his grip. "You don't leave this place alive."</p><p>"Shheisaliv-" Tyrion tried to explain.</p><p>After a moment, in which he felt himself going unconscious again, his King was kind enough to complete his idea.</p><p>"She's alive," Bran said. "Daenerys, your Queen and the woman you love, is alive."</p><p>The pressure on his neck loosened and he plummeted to the ground with a thunderous thump. The cold hardness of the ground marking his right cheekbone. He had landed at Daario's feet.</p><p>"What?" asked the captain of the Second Sons. Or former captain, Tyrion supposed. "Daenerys is alive? Where?"</p><p>"We last tracked her in Braavos, but her dragon is in Valyria. She remains out of our reach. From anyone's reach, actually," Bran informed him. "I know that my letter has been little considered with the details, but it is essential that you are here so you see that everything in it says is true. Daenerys burned our city and her death was an act of justice, perpetrated by her lover, in whom she trusted because she loved."</p><p>Tyrion watched from the ground as Daario's hands clenched into fists. </p><p>"Jon Snow. A bastard turned into a King. Her nephew." </p><p>"Indeed, he was."</p><p>Daario moved forward.</p><p>"Tell me where that bastard is. I have enough men to take your city and devastate it long before the rest of this shitty continent can do anything."</p><p>"The important thing is not where he is but where <em>she</em> is," Bran replied. "I thank the men you have brought, they will be very helpful."</p><p>"We are not at your service! Tell me where the bastard is!" </p><p>As the sellsword's tone and posture became more aggressive, the royal guards unsheathed their swords as a warning. This did not intimidate the neglected lover.</p><p>"He is living in the Northernmost lands of Westeros, further north than you have ever been and probably too far north for your body to bear. Be sensible, Captain. I have not summoned you in vain. You will get from us what you long for the most: Daenerys."</p><p>Tyrion heard no response from Daario.</p><p>"I knew that my letter would bring you to the shores of my city at this time. The shortage distresses my people and as its ruler, I am forced to make a decision to keep alive those who will provide us a future." Tyrion pricked up his ears, listening to Bran's instructions. "Help me to bring back the peace."</p><p>"Peace? I don't care about peace," Daario shouted. "If Daenerys is alive...if that would be the truth. You all wouldn't be standing where she belongs!"</p><p>"She had entrusted you with Meereen's peace, remember? I am not asking you to do something you have not done before."</p><p>"Why I would do something for you? To my knowledge, you are a usurper!"</p><p>Tyrion propped himself up on his elbows, still startled by the attack. Bran had acted behind his back, and this fact surprised him more than Daario's sudden appearance.</p><p>"Because you know you can't meet her again after what you've done," Bran stated. "Let's speak about King Freya, Captain Naharis. Let's talk about how you sold away Daenerys' legacy."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Your majesty, Queen in the North, Sansa Stark."</p><p>She didn't remember Castle Black fondly. Here she had come as a frightened girl running into the arms of her only remaining family. Now she was returning to that same position, but she refused to be a scared girl running into the arms of her older brother.</p><p>This was war.</p><p>Jon was surrounded by his wildling peers because there was no other way to describe what Sansa had before her eyes. No. This was not Jon, a dutiful man of the North or from the Night's Watch. This was a man uprooted of all identity who had his eyes marked by all the tragedy that he had had to live and outlive. In a way, Sansa felt sorry for him.</p><p>"We do not kneel," he replied when after a long moment he made no attempt to move from his place on the other side of the large table that separated them.</p><p>"But they call you a King," Sansa defied. </p><p>"It's more of a dub." </p><p>A pause. She studied his face looking for the man - the family, she saw the last time.</p><p>"The last time we see, you embrace me as your sister. I asked for your forgiveness and you took me into your arms. What has changed for your brotherly love to turn into a thirst for blood?"</p><p>"It was you who issued the order to assassinate Davos?"</p><p>It was his answer, Sansa believed. She always knew that decision would drive a wedge between them. Yet she assumed the risk because it was too soon for him to know the truth. </p><p>"Ser Davos turned into a traitor," she explained.  "Law is the law. North or South."</p><p>For that same reason, both were standing there. </p><p>"Lord Glover was a traitor," Jon rebutted, mayhaps avoiding to mention her own betrayal because it was superfluous and too personal. </p><p>"War is war, I don't care about his death," she was being honest in this regard, even if the cost was high. It wouldn't be the first time Sansa prioritized a great loss for personal gain. "Why are you fighting against the kingdom you once ruled and help to liberate?" She moved and ignored the sharp pain that always accompanied her. "For the wildlings? <em>Who are you</em>?"</p><p>She received no response from him. On the other hand, she did not need his words to confirm what she already was aware of: what little was left of that older brother who sacrificed so much for his siblings had disappeared. </p><p>This was not her kin. </p><p>Jon stood up and just then Sansa noticed the piece of parchment on the table. </p><p>"This is our offer of peace," he said his hand above the document. "It's on you, once again, to decide if we all live in peace."</p><p>His words had a double meaning. However, because she was surrounded by his people and her own, and wanted to deal with the matter as quickly as possible, Sansa obliged and went looking for the document to have a look.</p><p>She only had to read the first part to have her response.</p><p>"This is absurd."</p><p>"It's only fair."</p><p>"It's half of my Kingdom!"</p><p>"A half-empty Kingdom," Jon countered. </p><p>A moment of tense silence.</p><p>"You want to know why we execute him?" Sansa blurted. "Because he disobeyed direct orders from his king and came all the way here to tell you that Daenerys Targaryen is alive." </p><p>Strident silence again.</p><p>"She murdered Arya, Jon."</p><p>And once again, he gave nothing but a long stare. </p><p>"Are you even listening to me?"</p><p>"Sign those documents Sansa."  </p><p>"Or what?"</p><p>He lost his patience and hit his fists against the table.</p><p>"Or I promise you, mayhaps later than sooner, <em>you will regret it</em>."</p><p>A threat. So that was everything that was left of her older brother, she thought.</p><p>Sansa nodded and observed one last time the document, before moving to the fireplace and throwing it there to watch it burn. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Dany smiled when she strode across the settlement and people greeted her. She was heading to the harbor after visiting the center of the village to check on the construction. It amazed her still how these people knew a little of everything, for everyone has their hands occupied of the creation of a better place to live. Everyone except for her, who has her own hands full with the lessons of the children. And the adults who wanted to be taught. Slowly, things came back to be as simple as they could be. </p><p>Jorian rushed in front of his mother as they approached the ramp to the deck of The Valyrian, causing Dany to almost stumble in the process. She rubbed her belly and shook her head. </p><p>"Little Dany," Salladhor shouted when she reached the deck and was received by the captain himself. On other occasions he has come over and hugged her, but since he learned of her previous status as queen, he's shown some form of regal respect. "Boy, you are taller!" he pointed out when he stopped Jorian midway. </p><p>"Captain Salladhor, look!" he was showing him a carved knife Jon had allowed him to carry with him.</p><p>"Oh, child. Make sure to keep the pointy end of that out of trouble," he joked, turning to see Dany.</p><p>"Captain," she greeted him, equally respectful and shooting a glance at Jorian to keep him in line. His demeanor boosted in those days. "I have something for you," she said, lifting the piece of fabric she was carrying on her left arm. Her right one holding Missella's. </p><p>"Another robe?"</p><p>"A cloak," Dany corrected. She knelt down to accommodate her daughter's felt cloak, and to accommodate Jorian's twisted ropes as he was restless and eager to explore the boat. "Now go, but if I see you touching something you shouldn't, I am going to let the captain make you walk on the plank, understood?" </p><p>Jorian frowned and Missella giggled before taking their leaves. </p><p>"I thought your days as a seamstress were over, little Dany," Sallhador commented.</p><p>"It's of the few entertainment one can get up here," she jested.    </p><p>"Oh, that's certainly true," he took the gift and was taking a quick glance of the design, "What's the price-"</p><p>"Even if I would want a price, it wouldn't make any difference here," Dany cut him off, "It's a gift. I thank you for the help you provided Jon during his way against Glover."</p><p>"He already showed me his gratitude."</p><p>"I know he made a deal but you didn't have to accept and you did it. Can I ask why?"</p><p>"You know what they say about pirates. We go where gold is," he joked, "That man is destined to great things, Davos said, and I can start seeing what he meant." Of course, he added, "Same as you."</p><p>Daenerys looked at her hands on her laps and then to her children who were running around the deck. </p><p>"Those days are long gone," she pondered. She cleared her throat. "How is Essos? Have you heard word of my dragon?"</p><p>Salladhor tried on the cloak as he watched Dany with reserve as if he wanted to avoid delving into matters whose answers might not be what she wanted to hear.</p><p>"About the dragon? You know...people say things but mostly lies and tales. I haven't been that far, lately, though."</p><p>"What do you know about Bay of the Dragons?"</p><p>"You mean...Slaver's Bay?"</p><p>"Slaver's Bay. I see."</p><p>"Look, little Dany. Let me talk forthrightly with you. It wouldn't have last even if you had been Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Those lands are simply chaotic. A beautiful dream but an expensive one."</p><p>She clicked her tone with a bitter flavor filling her mouth. </p><p>"What happened with Daario Naharis and the Second Sons?"</p><p>Salladhor shrugged. </p><p>"Long gone. There's a King that ruled those lands now."</p><p>"A king?" Dany asked in confusion. "What king?"</p><p>Salladhor took a deep breath.</p><p>"Little Dany..."</p><p>"You can tell me."</p><p>Salladhor doubted at first but she made her best attempt to show herself restrained. </p><p>"He was a merchant from Qarth. Some say he was like you but, without the dragons."</p><p>"Like me? In what sense?"</p><p>"People followed him. But not your people...the other people. The slavers. The masters. The sellers. Your enemies."</p><p>Dany pondered his words. If someone grew powerful with the help of her enemies...that was totally plausible. She was greatly hated by those who stopped benefiting from slavery when she destroyed their system. When she <em>tried</em> to destroy it. </p><p>Did Daario betray her or was he killed? In hindsight, leaving him behind seemed not a great plan. </p><p>Dany pulled herself away from those thoughts as she remembered why she was there after all. </p><p>"Captain, I need you to ask you for a favor."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Papa, the wolves are following us," Jorian whispered to his ear when Jon hunched over a little to hear his concern. He returned a smile and nodded. </p><p>"Aye. They are protecting us," Jon reassured him. Both he and Missella could sense them, just like him.</p><p>There were hardly any roads in the true North, much less in The Haunted Forest. The wolves paced around them, but always with stealth and reserve, only Ghost in plain sight. </p><p>Jon looked over his shoulder at Daenerys who was riding a few meters behind, Missella with her. She gave him a smile that warmed his heart. There was a new sparkle on her face, still, nothing was easy between the two but much better than when they met again. </p><p>Despite the apparent tranquility that preceded the confrontation with Lord Glover's forces, Jon was left to resolve matters with the other chieftains of the several settlements and some other leaders of the free folk clans who demanded a meeting to clarify what had happened. He would have preferred to leave Dany and the children in the safety of their home, but they had already gone through too much to be apart again. Also, she had expressed her desire to get involved, which Jon appreciated, not wanting her to withdraw again. </p><p>The meeting would take place in the Fist of the First Man, in the same spot where Glover settled his troops and where Jon had sent a group of warriors to keep watch. Most of the men who were there, and of the wildlings who lived in the surroundings, knew who he was and were prone to accept his command. However, there were clans Jon had only heard of and in the same vein, they had only heard of Jon. He had not intended to generate as much bustle about it but he had to admit that Salladhor was right in remarking that he held some form of a leading position among the free folk that he could not neglect if he wanted to protect his family.</p><p><em>Power</em>. That is what he needed. </p><p>As they approached the field where several tents stood, Jon noticed that people from different clans were gathering. He saw the leather shirts sewn with bronze discs of the Thenns' warriors; Men with bare feet that belonged to the Hornfoots. The Cave Dwellers with their painted faces; the Men of the Frozen Shore who Jon knew were eager to take over Bear Island, and other groups of people scattered that he hoped were not the Ice River Clans, for he was not willing to negotiate with cannibals. </p><p>"Papa, what's that?" Jorian asked with awe in his voice at the sight of a giant animal Jon had seen only once. </p><p>Before he could answer, Tormund bellowed with a thunderous laugh, "That's a mammoth, child!"</p><p>"It's big!" the boy shouted, stirring with childish excitement to get a better view. Jon chuckled. His children never failed to spur his contentment. "Missella, look!" he cried out knowing his sister was just behind them. </p><p>When they reached the encampment of his men, just near the river where Salladhor had already taken possession of the small fleet of Glover, Jon went to help Daenerys and Missella with their mount. It wasn't like she was unprotected, having the spearwives surrounding her. But he knew that the image of her alone was bait enough to attract unsolicited attention. </p><p>She handed Missella first, who hugged him before sliding down to join her brother. The two children were quickly taken by Munda, while Daenerys dismounted, rejecting his help. Jon suppressed the need to roll his eyes. It was not an aggressive gesture, but rather a reaffirmation that it was something she could do perfectly well on her own. Having lived with a culture that revered stallions, Jon shouldn't be surprised.</p><p>Without saying a word, she gazed at the surroundings, her brow furrowed. </p><p>"Had I been here before?" she asked, walking some steps ahead of him. </p><p>Jon took a deep breath. </p><p>"You saved us here."</p><p>He had anticipated her remembering that this is where it all started to go wrong for her.</p><p>"Here is where Viserion died," she said, and Jon couldn't see her face if she was upset or sad. He assumed both of them. </p><p>"Dany," he walked closer. The people around them advanced indifferent to their conversation. "I'm so sorry," is the only thing he could say. "We can go there and pay our respect if you want to. If you feel like-"</p><p>"No," she stated, bluntly. She folded her hands on her front and turned to give him a tight smile. "I'm fine, I promise. Tell me, what do we do now that we are here?"</p><p>He accepted he couldn't force the words out of her. Her deads were a matter she would not talk directly but mention lightly every now and then, expecting Jon to make silence and not carry on a lecture on her. He would glance sideways on her, worried and hoping for her to open up to him completely. </p><p><em>I can't love you completely</em>. Words resounded in his mind. She smiled in his direction again, almost as if she could sense what he was thinking and was asking for forgiveness. It reminded Jon of an old feeling, the sad expression Lord Stark wore each time he saw his bastard son. Jon had thought it has been about not being able to love him completely as he loved the rest of his children, but now he knew it was about the secret he was keeping. With Daenerys, though...</p><p>"I make them see we should fight together," he shunned his concerns and responded to her question. It was not the moment to such ramblings. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"<em>...and she spread in the air into thousands of beautiful butterflies</em>, <em>of all the colors</em>-" Jon heard Dany's voice coming from the tent. He nodded at Raumun and Elwen who were guarding them, before entering and meeting his family. He stumbled upon an image he'd grown accustomed to seeing it but it kept had an overwhelming effect on him. Everything he ever longed for, believed unattainable and lost for a moment. Now he couldn't imagine an existence without them. </p><p>Dany interrupted her account of the Butterfly Lady when she turned to see Jon enter the tent. She was lying on the furs next to the children, tucking them to sleep. Outside, the distant bustle of the celebrations could be heard.</p><p>"Papa, the story of Prince Daeron," Jorian bellowed from his place, and Dany raised an eyebrow, simulating offense. Or mayhaps because Jon had ruined the children's sleep. In any case, Jon approached and leaned next to Dany, taking her by the waist to bring her against his chest. Dany made no move to oppose and gently leaned on him. </p><p>"What about a different one this time?" Jon asked.</p><p>The twins watched him with wide-opened curious eyes, their small bodies squeezed with wools and furs. </p><p>"What about a story the Silver Queen?" </p><p>He felt Dany start in his grip and for a moment, Jon regretted the daring. Before being able to recant his failed attempt to bring their children closer to their previous lives, Missella startled them all the same when she spoke,</p><p>"<em>Queen?</em>"</p><p>Jon was speechless.</p><p>He remembered the first time he met her, she was so scared...scared of him. And now she had spoken, finally.</p><p>"Missella," Dany's broken voice broke in, but it sounded far away. Her daughter's little voice still in his mind. "Missella, do you want to hear that story?"</p><p>Missella did not talk again. She only nodded. </p><p>"You talk again, Missella. You talk again," Jorian commented, equally fascinated. "Mama, she was speaking," he remarked. </p><p>"Aye, she did," Jon responded with a smile. </p><p>Missella put a single finger on her mouth and began fidgeting with her legs, moving them beneath the furs. She seemed to dislike the attention, so Jon decided he would continue with what he started.</p><p>"Well," he cleared his throat. "Once upon a time...there was a Queen. They called her the Silver Queen."</p><p>Words were difficult for him, especially since he was sure he couldn't tell them all. It was like running in a maze, encountering a concrete wall when each turn in the wrong direction and having to go back with the help of Dany to correct some details.</p><p>"She was just a babe when she had to flee to a land far away, a land that was not her home," he stated, looking Dany in the eye. "His entire family was gone. Except for his older brother."</p><p>Jorian seemed excited then, for it couldn't be a bad thing in his mind. He saw how Dany's eyes were sad because it was not what their boy imagined. Jon decided then it was not time to tell him who Viserys really was.</p><p>By the end of the tale, he has told them pretty much everything about her: her life with the horselords. Her "adventures" crossing the desert and freeing slaves. He avoided the dragons as she as asked him before. And finally, he recounted about her meeting with the Winter King.</p><p>At this point, Jorian was too amazed to even react, gray eyes like his own enthralled by the tale as Jon was with his mother. </p><p>"...she saved the Winter King and they fell in love," Jon never stopped looking into Dany's eyes, as they welled with tears. "He could keep fighting only because she saved him. And he loved her deeply, forever and ever."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Why did you do that?" </p><p>Jon sighed. After the children had fallen asleep, Dany waited until both were in the safety of the other beneath the fur to bring up the subject. </p><p>"They'll know who you are someday," Jon simply answered, drawing her closer to him. </p><p>A moment of silence before she had whispered "It would be only a burden."</p><p>Jon propped himself up.</p><p>"It doesn't have to be. Why can't you see what I see?" he inquired, a little frustrated. "Why can't you forgive yourself?"        </p><p>"Can you?"</p><p>"No. But I was not forced to do what I did," he let out a deep breath, running his finger through his hair. "They'll know I killed their mother with them in her womb. And I will lose them, then."</p><p>Dany put a hand on his arm.</p><p>"I will not let that happen," she tried to reassure. He saw a glimpse of the faithful woman she was once. "If we...If we live here, we can make it. We can have a life here, and be like everyone else, forget about our past."</p><p>Jon frowned. He would've done anything to hear those words some time ago, in a time where both of them should have taken different decisions. It's not different this time, though something punctured his conscience.</p><p>"I want that," he admitted, half-true. He wanted what she was proposing but he knew their enemies wouldn't let them rest. They would know about their children and hunt them as they did with Dany. He couldn't bear the thought of Jorian and Missella like that, unprotected or at the mercy of such ordeals.</p><p>Jon pulled away from those thoughts and moved to kiss Dany. He could feel the scrape of her nails on his scalp, reassuring him. He hovered over her and slipped his hand under the skirt of her dress to work on leather cords binding her woolen hose and further up.</p><p>She stopped him.</p><p>"What?" he asked, gasping. </p><p>"They are just there," Dany said while giggling. </p><p>Jon looked over at the other side of the tent, where the children were deep in their dreams.</p><p>"I'll be quiet," he excused, trying to return to what he was doing. </p><p>"Jon, no," she said again, and this time it sounded like a plea that startled him. What was happening? he wondered, placing his hand on her abdomen. He scowled at the feeling of a hardness he hadn't feel before. </p><p>"Dany," he let out of his lip in amazement. How could he be so blind not to notice it? "When were you to tell me?"</p><p>Dany shook her head and placed her hand above his, above the bump that both of them had ignored in the throes of passion and distress. </p><p>"I didn't want to accept that it happened," she explained with a broken voice.</p><p>Jon pulled her against his chest and hugged her so tightly he was probably suffocating her. He had imagined that something like this could happen but he never had the courage to mention it as a possibility. He wasn't certain she would even want more children with him.</p><p>"I love you," he said and kissed the crown of her head. "Everything will be fine, I promise you."</p><p>Dany pulled away and looked at him. </p><p>"Are you happy with it?"</p><p>He laughed in disbelief. He has always been cautious with his hopes but now he couldn't help but feel ecstatic.</p><p>"Of course!" he stated, "This time I will be there. Of course, I'm bloody happy with it."</p><p>Dany still wore an expression of fear.</p><p>"It could not work its way; he or she could not make it. <em>I</em> could not make it," she said and Jon felt his body lose all its temperature. "If something happens to me, you have to promise me you will keep our children safe-,"</p><p>"Dany," he halted her. "One day at the time, please," he pleaded this time. He has lived long enough around women whose lives were lost trying to give life that fear was also there. But Dany had survived the twins, survived death itself so no, he didn't allow himself to think that the worst was even a probability.</p><p>"Promise me," she insisted. </p><p>Jon again sighed, this with a renewed sense of relief and resolution. </p><p>"You know I'll do," he answered. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jon was fed up with the din around him. The dispute had gone from questioning what authority a "southron" like him possessed to grant land and hand out the spoils of war, to dispute the rest of that same spoil that resulted in valuable weapons. Especially for the Thenns, whose Magnar, Sigorn son of Styr, was the most reluctant to accept Jon's proposal to unite against his own sister's kingdom. </p><p>Sigorn shouted the old tongue and Tormund tried its best to translate. </p><p>"He's callin' ya' a lot of names," his friends explained. "Well, I don't think it's necessary to know that."</p><p>"Kinslaying is a crime despised by the gods," Jarl spoke, coming to place by his side. "They know your sister rules the Kingdom you once ruled. You can't demand their loyalty when you are going against your own kin."</p><p>"Aye, he also said that," Tormund added.</p><p>"You know their language?" Dany asked Jarl, and Jon repressed the urge to send Jarl away. The only reason he allowed him back in their settlements was because of Dany and was her also the reason Jon still distrusted him. </p><p>"Aye," Jarl replied.  "And I know the runes," he commented proudly, to which Dany responded with a lifted eyebrow. </p><p>"Then let them know Queen Sansa Stark broke her word. Let them know she is an Oathbreaker," Dany pointed out with a harsh tone. She turned to look at Jon. "There are castles and keeps left abandoned, you told me. How many of these are in the territory that you had previously promised them?"</p><p>"If we move past The Gift, Last Hearth, Karhold even The Dreadfort," he replied, thinking that in fact, it bordered on the insane. He supposed that with the threat of the savages around those places, he had cowed Sansa's vassals but still everything implied a great risk. </p><p>"That'd be enough to control a great part of the eastern coast," Dany added, her mind working on the invisible map. "It could take years, but it can work." </p><p>Daenerys looked directly at Jarl when she spoke, "Ask him what he desires."</p><p>Jarl obeyed and turned to Sigorn to comment on what he had just heard, Jon's attentive gaze focused on his gestures, trying to find deceit or fraud in them.</p><p>"There are many things that men love about war but nothing more than sit back and enjoy the loot after the war is over," Dany spoke quietly beside him. Jon realized that she was more animated, he wanted to believe that she was back in her natural place. "Even the Dothraki wanted their Khalasar to be better and more abundant than the rest, so they went on and on until death found them."</p><p>Jarl returned with Sigorn's request. It sounded strange but it was Dany again who understood better than they the reasoning behind the curious demand: a southern wife and a castle.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"A southern woman, that's what he said, but he meant a woman who can give him power and legacy. A lady," Dany pondered as he lightly kissed her shoulder and neck and ran his hand over her slightly swollen belly. "A lady with power."</p><p>"Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?" Jon asked her, totally removed from the issues that were worrying her at the time.</p><p>Dany turned her face towards him.</p><p>"I don't know. I just hope everything goes well for both of us," she told him, her hand stroking his beard. It was longer than before but she didn't seem to mind. "What do you want?"</p><p>Jon continued to rub her belly, excited at the simple thought of having the baby in his arms already. It was something he had lost with the twins and he longed to somehow have back.</p><p>"I just want him or her to be here now," he said, smiling. Dany presumed that they had several moons ahead before that moment to arrive. "But if she is a girl, I hope she has your hair. That way I will have a daughter of each fashion," he joked, although it was also true that the idea would not bother him. "Dany," he spoke as the air abandoned his lungs at the realization of what they were missing. "Marry me."</p><p>She turned to face him, her eyes fluttering curiously.</p><p>'I thought you had already established that I am yours," she argued with some amusement in her tone.</p><p>Of course, she was his, and that he was hers. They were a family. But he needed more than that. Even if she didn't believe in anything else anymore, he needed to make it right this time.</p><p>A skeptical look stained her countenance.</p><p>"Is this because you believe our children are bastards?"</p><p>"No," he stated, "That doesn't matter here. And I know those two and this little one have enough noble blood to never be considered bastards." He took a deep breath. "I should have proposed it much earlier, and I know that I will never compensate you enough for all that my carelessness made you lose. But I love you and I know that you love me enough to want a future with me."</p><p>The features of her face softened.</p><p>"I do want a future with you," she confided. </p><p>His heart skipped a beat upon hearing her say that. It was something he figured out after all the time they'd been together. </p><p>Before either of them could say anything else, the normal bustle of celebrations around the great fire shifted to screams of despair and terror.</p><p>At the same time, Jon went for his weapons and boots while Dany jumped for the children.</p><p>Tormund was already outside the tent when he came out, visibly shocked and agitated.</p><p>"What's going on?" Jon asked him.</p><p>Tormund had his eyes focused on the center, where the great fire was still burning.</p><p>"Ice River Clans," his friend replied.</p><p>Jon's blood ran cold. </p><p>"Stay with Dany," he mandated before advancing towards the place where the screams came from. </p><p>With darkness and orange sparkles surrounding him, Jon strode across the encampment avoiding the throng running in the opposite direction.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that other warriors were marching with him. </p><p>When they gathered at the center where the celebrations were taking place, Jon observed the men who had come to cause trouble. They bore misshapen scars on their faces like the men he had faced in Castle Black a lifetime ago. Jon wondered what their purpose was introducing himself right now.</p><p>"We've heard of a Crow feeding on the carrion of free men's stones," mocked a tall, languid man, his face so amorphous that Jon could barely distinguish between them.</p><p>"Raugr!" someone yelled at him. "What does this mean? It's not a fight, arsehole!"</p><p>"My name is Jon Snow, and I'm the one they call the Crow," Jon stepped forward, his grip tightened on Longclaw. "We are not looking for trouble. If you have come in peace to participate in the negotiations, then you will be welcome. Otherwise, if your purpose is to fight, a fight you will receive."</p><p>The disfigured man laughed as he shook his head with a threatening grimace. He held up a rudimentary artifact assimilating a spear in Jon's direction.</p><p>"Mance Ryder, do you remember? Dead in the flames, we were told." he spat. "I had respect for that man. He was one of ours. We called him king but he had to beat us in battle multiple times to earn that name. Tell me, former Crow, how many battles have you against us?" He raised his arms and pointed around, to the members of the various clans that had approached. Jon watched as a dangerous curiosity appeared in their stunned faces. "This is our nature! Our way! Are we going to allow a southerner to tell us how to live?"</p><p>Jon noticed the encouragement that man aroused in men who were not from his clan. It was a bad sign.</p><p>"Jon Snow fought for us against the southern army," one of his men, Bardel, stepped forward to argue. "He gave us weapons and boats!"</p><p>Another group cheered in his favor.</p><p>Jon just frowned, thinking of Daenerys and the children. He looked sideways to see that Jarl and Val were close. A fleeting thought prompted him to order them to stay behind and go to Dany at any eventuality.</p><p>No, Jon thought. He had come too far for an absurd dispute with this scum to lead him to lose something he had barely begun to have: the respect and loyalty of the free folk.</p><p>However, on their faces, Jon could see the desire for blood.</p><p>If they wanted blood, he would give them blood.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Where's Papa?" Jorian asked for the third time in a total of half an hour since he had woken up. Dany was shaking nervously.</p><p>She gulped before answering, "He went to solve some issues, but he will return soon. If you sleep now, the next time you wake up, he will be here," she promised to reassure him. In the background, she could still hear the rustle of metal against metal. Her throat was parched. </p><p>Jorian crawled his way onto her lap and lay there, almost as if he knew he was the only impediment to her getting up and leaving the tent to look for Jon. She kissed the top of his silver-curled head. </p><p>After what seemed like an eternity, Tormund crept in and Dany could see that there was natural light outside. She had hardly slept at all in the night.</p><p>"Where is Jon?" her voice making it sound more like a demand. </p><p>Tormund clicked his tone. </p><p>"Having fun," he said nonchalantly but after seeing she knitted her brows, he added, "He is fine."</p><p>Dany sighed with relief and some of the worry faded. However, she still didn't understand why he wasn't there with them. If there was one thing that was starting to bother her, it was how unpredictable he had become.</p><p>After making sure Jorian and Missella were properly asleep, Dany made to move to the entrance.</p><p>"Whoa, whoa, where are ya' going?" Tormund stopped her, blocking her. "Little Crow will cut me open if I let you go."</p><p>"Tormund," she warned. </p><p>"He is doing just fine, Daenerys. I swear it."</p><p>"What is taking him so long? What was happening just hours ago?"</p><p>"Look, we the free folk we tend to be a little aggressive from time to time-"</p><p>"Tormund!"</p><p>"Nothing that a good fight can't solve."</p><p>"He's fighting?" Dany was horrified. </p><p>Dany hopped off out of his reach and left the tent. Good thing Jon made clear none could touch her so they didn't intend to grab her when she ran off.</p><p>Her heart raced at the sight she beheld approaching the place where people gathered last night during the great fire. She heard a pant of a single man and the distinctive sound of flesh being torn apart by steel. </p><p><em>Nothing that a good fight can't solve</em>, Tormund's words resounded in Dany's mind.</p><p>It wasn't necessary for her to finish approaching to see clearly that there was a confrontation, the smell of blood easily reaching her. What took her by surprise was seeing Jon at the center of that bustle, dragging the battered body of another man with Longclaw stuck in the middle of the man's chest. He was dragging it as if it were nothing more than a piece of meat, himself skewered without the possibility of saying that his appearance had any salvation other than throwing himself into the frozen river.</p><p>"What does this mean?" Dany asked herself out loud. She hadn't realized that someone was standing near her and easily identified the voice when she gave her an answer.</p><p>"That's a good fight," Val replied.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany waited for him in the same place where she once saved his life, a kind of rock formation that stands out in the middle of nowhere. She was no longer worried or angry, instead she was strangely calm.</p><p>He came after heeding her advice to bath on the river. Dany took a closer look at him in order to find something amiss but she found nothing. He was at ease with his doing. </p><p>"Why?" she blurted. </p><p>Jon walked closer with a resolution on his stance that she found appealing but in an odd way.</p><p>"It proved them I can be like them. That I will be like them," he said. </p><p>Dany lifted her chin.</p><p>"And are you like them?"</p><p>Jon scoffed. </p><p>"I cannot be the same man that let others manipulate him."</p><p>It was interesting how they could be talking about a topic and know when that subject totally changed.</p><p>"I remember you didn't want to be a king," Dany teased him and not. </p><p>"I'm not a man of great ambitions, Daenerys."</p><p>"Yet here you are," she defied him.</p><p>"Yet here <em>we</em> are," he answered. </p><p>She turned her face away while suppressing a mocking smile. She walked a few steps close to the brink, causing him to follow her movement, perhaps fearing she might slip.  When she turned around, she was sure to make Jon see, after a long time, a glimpse of the queen she once was.</p><p>"To be part of them, you must become a man of them. My advice? Marry one of their women. If approval you seek, there will be nothing more than that that proves how committed you are."</p><p>Jon let out a guttural sound of disapproval.</p><p>"Aren't you carrying my child at this moment?"</p><p>Dany smirked again. At least he knew she was just making a point. </p><p>"One southron king sufficed to cause all this chaos, what's next? Do I have to set some more people on fire to make myself worthy of being named their queen? I'm not your queen. I do not want to be your queen." Dany made sure to approach him, to let him know she wasn't being hostile against him. "Because I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen. I'm not a woman of the free folk, I am not just the mother of the children we share. <em>And I am not mad</em>. The day I walked into that pyre with only the certainty that my dreams would come true, <em>that</em> was the last time I was afraid. And I refuse to continue living haunted by people who took advantage of my kindness and the goodwill of my people to build their kingdoms. I refuse to be a pawn on the path of victory for others. I refuse to let the world believe that I used my dragons to destroy those whom I swore to protect." She spoke clear and blunt, not a shred of doubt in her voice. "I refuse to live in a world where my children have to hide and flee as I have done all my life. As if being who they are were a punishment. I refuse to live apart from my other child that roam this world aimlessly and alone because their siblings perished too early. Maybe, at some point, I believed and was willing to leave everything I am for them but it is not enough. I cannot pretend to love them with all my being when, of that being, only pieces are left. It is not fair to you. It's not fair to me." Jon's chest rose and fell. Even with his solemn countenance, Dany could tell how affected he was. "When my children have grown, I will sail to Essos. I will find Drogon, and I will take back everything they stole from me. From us."</p><p>The hand she lifted to stroke his cheek, he took off as he stepped backward. </p><p>"Are you leaving me?" he asked, aggrieved. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Move.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fly.</em>
</p><p><em>Danger</em>.</p><p>He tried and insisted but the beast only responded with lazy huffs. The only place he could be safe was in Valyria, not here, exposed in the far dunes of Meereen.</p><p>Brandon did not understand what was happening to his mind. He did not feel Daenerys there and yet it was impossible to penetrate and take over.</p><p><em>Move</em>. <em>Fly</em>. <em>Danger</em>.</p><p>"Daenerys has no allies," Tyrion spoke and his mind was swept away by the annoying sound of his voice back to the small council room. "She is alone. Her last remaining server has also betrayed her. If she is not with Drogon. Where is she?"</p><p>"He hasn't betrayed her," Bran insisted. "An oath lasts as long as life lasts, and Daenerys was dead to Naharis when he sold the freedom of the freedmen."</p><p>At that right moment, they had the Tyroshi's men bringing order to the city. Convincing him was as simple as tricking a child with a sweet. Naharis was the child and the sweet was Daenerys.</p><p>"His loyalty resides where the gold resides," Tyrion reminded him every so often. "Why did you bring him here?"</p><p>Bran watched him walk across the room apprehensively. He began to expose that shrewdness that had made him live so long.</p><p>It was a kind of test really, he wanted to know exactly where the man's mind and heart were and if it would serve his purpose. But Tyrion didn't have to know that.</p><p>"Daenerys will come back, Tyrion. Sooner than we imagine. Now she has enemies on both sides of the world. West and east. If you were her, where would you go first?"</p><p>"North," his response came out simple and quick. "Have you considered that maybe she is there? Wìth the one they call the King Crow and The King Beyond the Wall?"</p><p>Bran smirked cynically.</p><p>"Drogon's not there. I'm sure of that."</p><p>Tyrion did not question.</p><p>"Jon Snow is a different man now. We are not going to interrupt what is brewing in the North. We are going to need it for the future."</p><p>"The future? And the present, your majesty?" the small man began to stir. "I have the Hightowers on the brink of rebellion. Dorne does not respond to our communication while Yara Greyjoy and her iron scum continue to attack the shores of the Westerlands. Our city hates us! What do we do with all that?"</p><p>"Wait," Bran replied monotonously. "No one said it was going to be easy, but the time will come and everything will settle, Lord Tyrion."</p><p>His Hand did not answer again and just sat with one hand covering his face.</p><p>"And King Freya...who is this supposed monarch?"</p><p>Bran sighed and leaned back against the back of the chair.</p><p>"The power of attraction is a double-edged sword," he pondered as he refocused on Drogon. "It attracts honest causes like those that are perverted. King Freya knows that."</p><p><em>Drogon, move, fly, danger</em>, he return to warn the dragon, for his head had a price and his mother was far away and nowhere to be seen. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I was checking the outline and I thought yeah fuck it let's put baby n3 there </p><p>Can you guess what Bran offered to Daario?👀</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Hold your broken dream up high.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In this chapter, I included an excerpt from a well-known Tyrion quote from the books. I needed to somehow replicate a scene from the show but with that dialogue. In the final notes, I will explain it better.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>13.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hold your broken dream up high.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (VIII)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Pentos, Essos.  </strong>
</p><p>Tyrion found himself sickening at the sight of the square buildings that loomed on the horizon announcing their soon arrival to Pentos, a city he had visited but hadn’t seen this way because he had been trapped inside a wooden box with his own shit back then. The present was not very different. He was trapped with his own shit in a figurative sense now, having been sent to Essos for the second time in his life at Brandon's whim to obtain an alliance with the infamous King Freya, and escorted by Daario and his sellswords.</p><p><em>It shouldn't be this way</em>, Tyrion thought. He should be wasting his life away in a brothel instead of being forced to see war, power, and political strife again. He couldn't deny he liked it to the point he embraced his position. Men like him learn to hold on to the few means his condition allowed him. During his childhood, it was his name, the respect, and influence the Lannister name gave him. Then it was his wit and intelligence, ultimately his acumen to make quick decisions.</p><p>Now that he was closer to a grave than to a brothel, Tyrion didn't know what exactly he was holding on to. How was that he was alive still?</p><p>He looked over his shoulders, the slim figure of Daario Naharis was close behind, throwing daggers with his gaze. When Tyrion had asked Bran about the exactness of his arrangement with the chieftain to secure his support in this affair, Tyrion received a vague reply (as always) that nevertheless provided him with the only obvious response that could be: Daenerys. At this point, the only thing that man could care about was Daenerys.</p><p><em>But we need her dead</em>, Tyrion pondered. And unless he was being sent to be a gift of peace, which was a most likely scenario, Tyrion didn't know how Daario was going to make it out of this alive. There was a missing piece that he knew about its absence but still...there was no much he could do.</p><p>His darkened stare set on the docks ahead.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"It surprised me to see you again...and alive,” Magister Mopatis did not receive him with the same friendly spirit with which he had once met him, but with mild suspicion. “Certainly, my dear friend couldn't run the same fate," he lamented. Tyrion gulped guiltily. "You must know that, as the intelligent man I take pride in being, I prefer to stay out of the affairs of your kingdom. Or any other."</p><p>"The same man who has sheltered enemies of my kingdom?” Tyrion rebutted, scoffing, “A man who was willing to sell the last Targaryen princess to a Dothraki warlord for a place on the small council of that kingdom?" Tyrion stepped forward and sat in one of the nice sea-view seats, recalling simpler days there with Varys, again Daenerys being the subject of those conversations, albeit in different circumstances. "It actually surprised me Daenerys never mentioned you again."</p><p>"But I have always fondly remembered her," he came to sit in front of him, commanding to his servants in a bastard Valyrian that Tyrion half-understood. "Her story," he began afterward, "I would make sure they tell it as it was. Undoubtedly, <em>something</em> I would have liked to witness."</p><p>"It was a big deal, I agree," Tyrion concurred. It was the reason why he had been so excited about the whole thing at first. "About Varys–"</p><p>"He knew the hazards of his commitment with these affairs,” Illyrio cut him off. “We both knew it,” he asserted with sharp eyes. “And, I am glad that he lived and died according to his belief and faith.”</p><p>"He warned me that she would do what she did," he felt the need to admit.</p><p>The older man nodded, Tyrion could deduce that he felt sorry for both lives lost: that of Varys, and that of a Daenerys that could be.</p><p>"I don't blame you for not having seen it," he said as if reading his mind. "She was a kind soul, but the Targaryens are Targaryens at the end of the day. Dragons cannot be tamed."</p><p>The servants returned with appetizer trays and wine jugs that cheered up Tyrion's decadent spirit.</p><p>"However, a crippled child who is himself a magical being. What was his name like? The Raven?" Illyrio leaned out to take a bunch of grapes in his hands. He continued speaking with his mouth half full. "What is the difference between these two magics, my Lord?"</p><p>Tyrion pondered his question for a moment, trying not to go to places in his mind that would cause him to defect.</p><p>"Brandon-, I mean, our King," sometimes it was hard to separate the boy from the king, "he's harmless. He doesn't choose sides. He does the right thing."</p><p>Illyrio's chubby body shuddered with a powerful laugh. Tyrion hesitated but finally looked out for some of the wine that had been offered.</p><p>"I bet Daenerys believed the same," he scoffed, imitating Tyrion and serving himself some wine. He continued to digest the delights and allowed a comfortable and peaceful moment of silence to reign between them, during which he closed his eyes, savored the soft liquid in his mouth and rested his head against the back of the chair to let the calm sound of the waves hitting the shores lead him to distant memories.</p><p>Illyrio did not let him enjoy too much.</p><p>"The best thing you can do is stay away if you are not willing to choose a side," he said rightly.</p><p>It was time for the politicking to begin, Tyrion knew.</p><p>"The Crown has enough gold to compel your favor,” he revealed.</p><p>Gold Tyrion would have preferred to devote to rebuilding their weakened realm.</p><p>"You should buy the favor of the Iron Bank, my Lord. Gold is not something that can compel me."</p><p>Tyrion frowned and let out a shaky breath.</p><p>"King Thyssen Freya," he said.</p><p>The other man's response was to sigh just as defeated.</p><p>"A name that many people are afraid to invoke nowadays," he replied.</p><p>Tyrion shook his head from side to side, pondering it.</p><p>"Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't the election of a new Prince of Pentos looming?" Information that would not escape the confines of this continent if it wasn’t for the all-knowing being that shared it. "A man like Freya, who is about to face the forces at Volantis, would want to get close and get some vote of confidence, don’t you think?"</p><p>Illyrio scoffed.</p><p>"Confidence is what Freya needs the least."</p><p>Tyrion was even more intrigued by this man. He certainly hadn't heard from him during his time in Essos under Daenerys service, when she was on everyone's lips.</p><p>He sipped his wine as he looked at the shore. In the distance, he could see his ship, the dark sail with the three-eyed raven symbol. Beyond, another sailless fleet.</p><p>"It is a beautiful fleet," Tyrion commented, not innocently. Having failed in prompting a response from his company, he tried something more forceful and direct. "Daenerys is alive."</p><p>The man almost choked on the cubes of cheese he was gobbling up in quantity.</p><p>"How?" he asked, coughing.</p><p>"Like you said. Magic. Chances are the Red God people-"</p><p>"Those are the words of a deranged man!"</p><p>Things had become hostile so Tyrion tried to be understandable and not lose his temper too.</p><p>"Why do you think Volantis is preparing a rebellion on her behalf? There is no other explanation, my friend."</p><p>“If that’s true and she finds out I am conspiring with her greatest enemy–”</p><p>"She won't come for you! She's had enough of traitors, most likely she doesn't have enough strength to expose herself right now." Tyrion got out of his seat, and walked to the stone rail, watching the sunset before turning and gathering the indicated words in his mind to convey the Magister’s confidence as he once did with Jon Snow. “<em>She spent her childhood in exile, impoverished, living on dreams and schemes, running from one city to the next, always fearful, never safe, friendless but for a brother who was by all accounts half-mad...a brother who sold her maidenhood to the Dothraki for the promise of an army. I know that somewhere upon the grass, her dragons hatched, and so did she. I know she is proud. How not? What else was left her but pride? I know she is strong. How not? The Dothraki despise weakness. If Daenerys had been weak, she would have perished with Viserys. I know she is fierce. Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen are proof enough of that. She has survived assassins and conspiracies and fell sorceries, grieved for a brother and a husband and a son, trod the cities of the slavers to dust beneath her dainty sandaled feet</em>. However, none of that makes sense. She will never have it again because everything she represented no longer exists, and therefore that Daenerys does not exist either.”</p><p>Like Jon Snow, Illyrio was puzzled, looking at him with watery, trembling eyes as Tyrion walked and weighed his words.</p><p>“I know I'm asking you for something risky, but if Daenerys had wanted to hurt you, she already would have. <em>Why go back to the place where it all started?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (VIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Winterfell</strong>.</p><p><em>When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives</em>. Those words came to her mind suddenly when she stood on Winterfell's battlements. She turned to see beside her but her sister was not there. No sibling of her was left for Bran was estranged and Jon was now a stranger.</p><p>She was the last wolf...the lone wolf. But still, she refused to perish. </p><p>"My queen, it's time," Maester Wolkan spoke as he approached with an artifact in his hands that Sansa had forgotten that morning in her chamber, perhaps on purpose. </p><p>Sansa nodded and reached for the cane, which had a sleek, custom design on the handgrip, soft and padded for added comfort. No matter how beautiful it was, to Sansa, it was a symbol of weakness and defeat.</p><p>She walked in the Great Hall and strode across the room to her throne with a chin up and eyes fixed on a spot on the wall in front. Thorns digging into every part of her body were the daggers her subjects hurled at her.  Figuratively, even though the pain was more real than herself.</p><p>The lords of the North were not used to as many formalities as in the south, so Sansa proceeded to communicate everything that had happened in recent months.</p><p>Amidst screams and complaints, Sansa found her voice to overcome the bustle.</p><p>"My lords and ladies, I am saddened to confirm that the rumors of the death of Lord Glover and his defeat in the lands beyond the wall are true. But do not mourn him but celebrate that he has left us a victory on Bear Island, which it has been recovered after the wildling invasion."</p><p>"What about Jon Snow, your grace?" </p><p>"Ya' we want tha' head of tha' traito'!"</p><p>"He must be executed, your grace!"</p><p>"Are you implying your grace must become a kinslayer? Kinslaying is punished by the Gods!"</p><p>Sansa rolled her eyes as the conversation went on. Maester Wolkan brought her a cup of tea. His <em>special</em> tea.</p><p>"...Jon Snow is not a Stark!" someone said and she did not jump at first, until he continued, "Jon Snow is a dragon seed!"</p><p>The Great Hall fell silent and Sansa choked on the tea, her senses sharpened.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"What nonsense are ya' speaking, crone?"</p><p>Sansa looked through the room for the voice that shouted that revelation that she would've preferred deep-buried alongside the bones of her father and aunt. It was indeed an old man. He didn't even look like a Lord. </p><p>"Lyanna," someone else spoke, diverting Sansa's attention. "Lyanna Stark. She..." Sansa trembled when she realized he was tying the loosened ends on his own in his mind. "Lord Stark came back with a child from the war and we didn't know it was not his bastard but Lyanna's. The Mad King's son's seed. The Mad King's grandchild!"</p><p>Sansa was shocked and witnessed the conversation horrified.</p><p>"Of course he will defect his own sister...he was more than an Oathbraker, he is a Kinslayer!" </p><p>"Born of the violation of poor Lady Lyanna..." someone actually wept. "Your grace knew of this?"</p><p>And so all eyes focused on Sansa, who swallowed nervously, weighing her options.</p><p>"<em>Jon is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. She was not kidnapped by him. They fell in love and decided to run away together. Jon's real name is Aegon Targaryen, named in memory of his brother Aegon</em>."</p><p>She remembered Bran's words that day. The day of the revelation and when Sansa knew Jon was totally fooled by his garbled sense of duty. The day she ended her brother's cowardice with her own dishonor.</p><p>Sansa was not stupid. On their faces, she could see that those people were going to cut her neck the moment she contradicted that story. Reveal to them that poor Lyanna Stark was no more than a naive little girl who caused the war with her immaturity and that Jon was a legitimate son - that would be fatal.</p><p>Jon has taken a decision: being her enemy. So she also took a decision and embraced it.</p><p>"Sadly, yes. You will understand why I couldn't share this information with you before. Oathbreaking is a sin punished by any god, and Jon made me swear no other soul would hear about this truth. Unfortunately, my brother...my cousin's mind is marked by the terrible cursed that runs the Targaryen and he went berserk for his ultimate crime. He has declared war on me, on <em>us</em>, he has turned to the side of the wildlings...whom he now considers his true family."</p><p>Outrage filled the room. She planted again the seed of discord, and like other times, she just waited for it to grow. </p><p>"However,” she continued, “This unfortunate and sad revelation is not the reason why I have summoned you. In less than a fortnight, my representative in Braavos will return with the loan that the Iron Bank has granted us. It is no imperative to keep this information a secret any longer. We face some of the fiercest winters Westeros has ever known, and our kingdom once again faces a foe." She paused and stood up, once again rejecting the use of her cane. "I have decided that a temporary council must be formed with the representatives of my most loyal vassals to make the decision of the destination of these funds. Let us keep in mind, my lords, that this is borrowing and not a gift. We must not abuse our good fortune."</p><p>The Lords applauded her announcement. Sansa swallowed the lump in her throat. <em>That's it</em>, she thought. Involving them in her policy-making would help rebuild trust. In addition to the disenchantment that she has generated for Jon (discontent caused partly thanks to his own misdeeds), it would contribute to buy a little time in what she solved the other matters.</p><p>Time, time, time, she thought, as the tea numbed the pain and her mind.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (IV)</strong>
</p><p><strong>King's Landing</strong>.</p><p>Ser Podrick moved his wheelchair closer to the table in the center of what used to be the Throne Room of the Targaryen. A man of advanced age and elegant appearance already expected him there.</p><p>"No Hand, your grace?" asked Lord Hightower's representative, Lord Ebber, who was an old curmudgeon whose hostile temper was futile as opposed to Bran's calm indifference. Yet, he was a very smart man.</p><p>"He’s attending matters of greater relevance at Essos," he explained.</p><p>"A war, perhaps?"</p><p>Bran smirked.</p><p>"We have come here to discuss something else – I am sure."</p><p>The old man grumbled a little before focusing on the papers in front of him, numbers, and notes that for the King were irrelevant since he already knew what it was about.</p><p>"I came here to discuss many things," he said. "First and foremost, your grace, our concern for the harvests of this year –"</p><p>"The harvest is fine!" protested Lord Bronn, whose possession of Highgarden was until today, resisted by the lords of yesteryear that inhabited that kingdom.</p><p>"We are not producing the same as before-" Lord Ebber continued, ignoring the protests of the Master of Coin.</p><p>When Tyrion appointed his friend in this important role, granting him one of the most important seats in all of Westeros, Bran understood perfectly that things were happening as he had expected: a chaos that only in his hands could handle. Tyrion often believed that things were out of his control, or that he didn't care, but he, or the part of he who was the Three-Eyed Raven, saw beyond chaos.</p><p>He saw the end. And sometimes, there are inevitable means that guarantee the end.</p><p>"It is not easy to find workmanship in these times. It is also winter!" Lord Bronn excused himself once more.</p><p>"The problem, your majesty,” In the same way, Lord Ebber ignored him again. “Is not only that production has not been as abundant as in other times, but also the vacuum that it generates in the royal treasury that forces the crown to resort again to tax increases. It is in the interest of all of us that the situation could be regularized as soon as possible ".</p><p>"Do we need money in the crown coffers? Very well. The solution is simple. How do you think things work so well in Essos? Trade!" Bronn added up.</p><p>"We don't have the resources to export. Not if we want to feed our people," Lord Ebber countered.</p><p>"Winter always carries the weakest, my lord. I am surprised you do not take it into account.”</p><p>Bronn's solution was incredibly brilliant, and yet it was his idle reputation that kept his ideas from being taken seriously. In another time, he knew, the former sellsword’s idea will be common sense. However, Westeros had not reached that point. It wasn't ready.</p><p>"Your Grace, I am afraid I also need to discuss the terms of the new engagement that the Crown has entered into with the Iron Bank."</p><p>"We need to have our own bank," Bronn came up with another brilliant idea that would, for the moment, be disregarded. The lords would never agree to put their money in a common ark.</p><p>"We are in a great dilemma, your grace! Without the necessary numbers to fulfill our obligations with the bank, the least we can hope for is a mercenary company on our coasts and the next thing we will know is that the bank will govern every corner of each kingdom, and believe me, not even dragons terrify me as much as bankers.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>The Settlement, unknown location</strong>.</p><p>In her visions, she had seen this place many times over. Cold as death, white as the purest soul – a place full of magic, without a doubt. It was not to her liking, for here the senses and faith tended to falter as a candle in the wind. Yet, her destiny was to visit this place at least once. </p><p>Kinvara heard the whispers behind her as she has heard them throughout the journey. On one occasion even one of them dared to speak to her directly, not without losing his sense of reality for a moment.</p><p>Heavy steps came closer.</p><p>"My lady, we are close," said Captain Salladhor. A cautious man without a doubt. "Would you like me to come down and look for Daenerys – I mean, for her grace?"</p><p>"Don't bother, my captain," Kinvara said, turning around and giving him a mischievous smile. "I know the north men are wary people, afraid and resentful of the unknown. But I have faced greater dangers.” She touched his arms, reassuringly. “I will walk to meet Daenerys myself when the time comes."</p><p>The dark-skinned man in extravagant clothing nodded and left. When Kinvara returned to overlook the exquisite scenery, the whispers behind her started again.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>A modest defense began taking shape in the harbor of the settlement. Kinvara allowed her things to be carried by the sailors as she walked earnestly down the pier like a clearly dissonant figure amongst the people and the landscape. She recalled the words her sister Melissandre spoke about this place and wonder if she ever imagined her journey would end in a place like this. She certainly knew her time was coming the last time she visited her in Volantis.</p><p>
  <em>"I've seen it," Melissandre had told her at the time. "The darkness. I have seen it and it is not what I expected."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kinvara had smiled. Melissandre was one of the youngest servants, and therefore most naive.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Darkness takes many forms," Kinvara replied. "There is certainty in your heart, I can feel it. Yet here you are."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Her sister's eyes saw her with terrible torment.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I have realized that I believed that my part was transcendental and I have only encountered more causality. My deeds –"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It all happens for a reason, my dear sister,” Kinvara didn’t let her finish. “Even those things for which we find no meaning. The end is only the beginning. Only faith can help us find significance."</em>
</p><p>Kinvara bent down and took in her bare hands a handful of snow that quickly melted on contact with the heat of her skin. She raised her eyes and looked towards a distant hill where a small cabin stood.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (II)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Castle Black, The Wall</strong>.</p><p>The ghostly silence around them bothered Tormund so much that every now and then he made some irreverent comment so that he didn't have to think how much it made him uncomfortable to be on top of The Wall again. He came to dread this place after that attack of the blue dragon that almost left him buried under the ice blocks in Eastwatch. Around them there was mist, and all he could think of was that evil beast would appear out of nowhere.</p><p>Indeed, a winged shadow appeared, almost knocking him back with a leap that threw Lord Crow aside. He pushed Tormund back, in his soured humor.</p><p>"Ask that animal of yours to land carefully!" Tormund grumbled to Varamyr, groping his own hair instinctively. The young boy smiled smugly. </p><p>"What did you see, Varamyr?" Jon questioned, equally annoyed by the abrupt landing of the eagle the skinchanger had warged on. </p><p>Little Crown was training their men to start making inroads into his sister's most vulnerable territory, and for that, he dispensed with sending the wolves and resorted to a skinchanger. Jon himself was one of those people. Tormund wondered if Jorian would inherit his father’s ability to warg on animals.</p><p>"Kneelers are preparing themselves for war too. Their castles are full of men."</p><p>"And Winterfell?" Jon asked about his family's ancestral home.</p><p>"One of the walls is still down.”</p><p>Jon was counting on his sister not being able to cope with this war.</p><p>"Something else," Varamyr added. "People march from the east to Winterfell. Soldiers. They carry something important."</p><p>"Very well," he said. "Keep a continuous watch, especially on Winterfell."</p><p>When they had descended from the Wall to Castle Black castle, Jon explained that there were three possibilities: either his sister had acquired food, weapons, or gold, which was something very important to the southron.</p><p>"Gold is a means of payment," he explained to Tormund, although he did not understand why they would exchange food for stones. "Sansa is holding on to ropes right now if what Glover said is true."</p><p>"I don't know, little crow. Maybe he was saying what you would have liked to hear," Tormund disagreed. Even if they were Jon's people, he disliked them and did not understand why they had continued to despise Jon even after naming him their King. <em>Weren't those things important to kneelers?</em> "I say let's just attack them."</p><p>Jon frowned. He seemed lost in thought. Although the man had regained his will to live after reuniting with his dragon queen and discovering that he was a father, he was still a man first and foremost afraid of losing what really mattered to him. Tormund knew that his true desire was not revenge (although sometimes he acted as if he really was a man consumed by it) but the need to keep his loved ones safe. More now when Daenerys was with child again.</p><p><em>Another wolf-dragon child to the world</em>, he thought. </p><p>"My father used to say that we found our true friend on the battlefield. I once made sense of those words," he replied. They walked through one of the castle's galleries, looking at the people - <em>his</em> people, who inhabited it. "Why do they do it? Why do they follow me?"</p><p>Tormund scoffed.</p><p>"After all you've done for us-"</p><p>"But I am not one of you. As much as you say it, it is true that I have no right to rule over you."</p><p>"I don't think you're doing it either. My people are unruly."</p><p>Jon looked down again, children were yelling at him "<em>Lord Crow"</em> and "<em>King Crow" </em>while showing him their wooden swords. Jon smiled at them.</p><p>"What if I wanted to?"</p><p>Tormund shrugged.</p><p>"Then do it."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>The Settlement, unknown location</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Dany woke with a start at the feeling of something cold in her chest - memories she wanted to keep buried came back to haunt her. When she looked down at her chest to see what the meddling was all about, she was puzzled (but relieved) that it was just Jorian's little hand positioned just above the mound of her left breast. </p><p><em>Not again</em>, she lamented. </p><p>Ever since he found out about the baby, he'd grown more attached to her, almost like fearing he was going to lose her somehow. Dany had no heart to scold him, but just as Jon had rightly pointed out, there were limits she had to set. So with patience, Dany took his hand and wrapped it in hers, settling it back into place. Jorian replied with a little groan but accepted, before falling asleep again in Jon's place. Missella was peacefully asleep on Dany's other side.</p><p>Almost on a routine basis, Dany woke up to the voices of both children talking to her belly, patting, and chatting to each other about what the baby might be doing there.</p><p>It had been a great relief to hear Missella's soft little voice again, and over time, slowly and progressively, her daughter had finally spoken again.</p><p>"Your tummy is moving Mama," Missella pointed out, giggling as the baby kicked. </p><p>"Yeah, your sister or brother wants to play with you too."</p><p>"How long til is...how long until the baby comes?" Jorian asked, feigning apathy. </p><p>"A little more, sweetling," Dany replied, combing one of his curls behind his ear. She had to cut his hair but every time she tried to do it in those days, he whimpered and insisted his father would do it when he came back. </p><p>Jon came and went at regular periods. Sometimes Hardhome, sometimes Castle Black. It was not abandonment, by any means, after all the settlement and she needed him as well. However, since the day she confessed to him that she would eventually leave for Essos, once again they fell into a stalemate. Although not like the previous one. They were still together and they never let their disagreements change the fact that they were a family. A family that was growing.</p><p>And not only for them.</p><p>The settlement grew, and both she and the inhabitants began to adapt to a community lifestyle, without forgetting that they were still times of war. Winter was cruel of course, but she and Jon had managed to devise a contingency plan that with the help of Salladhor and his fleet transformed the lives of the settlers into something akin to that of the small southern towns. The idea of trade was still foreign but at baby steps, it was taking shape and becoming part of them. </p><p>Jon kept his word (partly at her insistence) and taught her to use a sword, although now in her condition it was almost ridiculous.</p><p>Dany had found more use with Val, who occasionally crossed her path to ask her about things Dany remembered teaching Jarl. Things specifically about Essos. In exchange for this information, Val taught her how to carve knives put of animal bones (or so she hoped it was).</p><p>One afternoon, as she was carving her knife guided by Val, the honey-haired woman asked an interesting question.</p><p>"Tell me, these cities across the sea. How hard would it be to loot them?"</p><p>Daenerys laughed. For a moment she wanted to presume that she was just ten and nine when she sacked Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, but the memories did not strike her mind pleasantly, but as a hole in her heart that chilled her entire body.</p><p>Missandei.</p><p>Jorah.</p><p>Gray Worm.</p><p>Ser Barristan.</p><p>Daario.</p><p>Her dragon children.</p><p>Drogon out there without her. <em>Waiting</em> for her.</p><p>"Forget it," Daenerys told her. "It was easier to fight against the dead."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Kinvara arrived on time before the new baby was born. For a moment, Dany even feared that she wouldn't make it. It was not necessary to explain why her presence was imperative, and Kinvara did not inquire too much into her reasons.</p><p>"My mission is to serve the chosen one of the Lord of Light, wherever she requires it," the priestess said. "However, I have to insist that there is a much greater purpose waiting for you, and I begin to believe that my queen knows it and understands it better now."</p><p>"What news do you have of my son?" Dany changed the subject. "And Volantis? Bay of Dragons?"</p><p>Kinvara sighed.</p><p>"Your son is safe as long as he remains away from those who desire him dead. Enemies surrounded you still, Daenerys. You must know that." She made a pause, scratching Missella's hair when her daughter approach offering a sweet. She waited until the girl returned to play with her brother to continue.  "Something great is brewing in Essos. There is a man who yearned for your greatness and has found a way to emulate it. They call him king, and people follow him for his ideals. His lips speak words that sound like songs to those who despise yours."</p><p>"A King?"</p><p>"Freya. Thyssen Freya. I am sorry to have to confirm that nothing of your legacy is standing in those lands that you liberated. Necklaces decorated again the necks of freedmen."</p><p>Dany's heart sank and she brought her hand to her bloated belly, her baby feeling her breakdown, too. She had been too naive to expect something different.</p><p>"But there is still hope, my queen," the priestess cheered her up, at the same time again ignoring her request not to treat her like a queen. "Volantis is waiting for you. It's been waiting for you all this time."</p><p>"I can't leave now. Even if I wanted to," Dany indicated, "My children...they are too small and too young."</p><p>"Do you remember what I told you a long time ago when your faith was broken?"</p><p>Kinvara had said so many things to her during her time at Volantis that Daenerys didn't know exactly which of all those things she was talking about.</p><p>"I promised you that every life that was taken from you would not be in vain. And what they have taken from you, the Lord would return you in abundance." Kinvara reached out to rest her hand on Daenerys', above her belly. "You know what I mean now?"</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany startled when she heard the wood in the floor creak so she tightened her grip on the knife under her pillow. She opened her eyes and sat on the bed, tracing in the darkness the shape that had entered the bedroom. She sighed with relief when she realized it was Jon.</p><p>"I didn't mean to wake you up," he apologized, closing the door behind him. She could hear him but hardly see him.</p><p>"Hey," she greeted him. </p><p>"Hey," he replied.</p><p>Silence. </p><p>She heard him move, take off his clothes, mechanically and nonchalantly. That night she had forced the twins to stay in their room with Kinvara, and now Dany was grateful for that decision.</p><p>"I need to tell you something," Daenerys broke the harmony. "I didn't want to tell you without before–"</p><p>"The red woman. She is here."</p><p>Dany flinched and searched his gaze now that her eyes began to outline his form despite the darkness.</p><p>Of all the things they shared, blood, history, love, children, a bed...sharing the experience with death was the worst.</p><p>"Sorry for not telling you that I sent Salladhor to look for her."</p><p>Jon sat on his side of the bed and sighed, his back on her.</p><p>Daenerys thought he would nor speak to her again that night. </p><p>"I know what it feels like, you know? After all, a red woman also brought me back." Jon lay on his back. "I took her with me when we take back Winterfell. I talked to her. I felt close to her in a strange way. <em>Not the one you're thinking of</em>. Just closer...like if I could trust her with things." His hands landed on his stomach. He swallowed hard. "Then Davos walked into the room and told me that Melissandre had burned Stannis Baratheon's daughter alive. A sacrifice." His tortured face turned in her direction, and she had finally gotten what she wanted. "I am going to ask you this clearly and directly. I don't want the red woman near my children."</p><p>"She saved them," Dany confessed finally, staring into his eyes just as sharply as he was. "She saved me. She is nothing like Melissandre."  Although Daenerys hardly knew anything about that other woman. "We need her for when this baby is born if we want to protect him or her from Bran's sight."</p><p>"And what is the price of her aid? You are not naive, Daenerys. You know that these people always have a price. You once told me that she wanted you in Volantis to fight their wars."</p><p>"Perhaps their wars are also mine. Slavery returned to Slaver's Bay. Everything I built there for years...is gone."</p><p>"And what have you built here? Would you leave all this to try to have something that is no longer there?"</p><p>His words stabbed into her like his knife to her heart and she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose. With Jon, she knew it was never an ill will.</p><p>"I told you...it is more than pride. <em>You know it is</em>."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Easy, take a deep breath, and as you let go of the air, push," she motioned to the queen, who just like the last time, diligently complied, trying not to faint out of the pain going through her body. "Very well, your grace, it's almost there."</p><p>"I can see the head peeking out," reported an older woman who had come to help with the childbirth. Another younger woman who was called Val was there with the hot water and the wet rags.</p><p>A couple more minutes and finally the baby was expelled from the mother's body. Kinvara was sure that this time it was just one baby. A girl.</p><p>As soon as she reached the baby the priestess walked to a discreet corner to clean her while the other midwife stayed tending to Daenerys. Behind her, the blonde woman followed.</p><p>"Thank you very much. I can do it alone," she indicated in a clear tone that would not admit a suggestion to the contrary. Val wisely walked away.</p><p>Kinvara cleaned the baby who finally started crying, the air entering her little lungs for the first time. From one of the pockets of her dress, she took the object that had brought her to that point of the world and while she murmured the correct words, she placed the bracelet on her small wrist.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Jon Snow," the heavy voice of the red priestess call him. His entire body trembled at the seriousness with which she spoke. "You can go in and meet your daughter."</p><p>The air that was held inside him came out.</p><p>"A daughter?" he asked in disbelief. </p><p>He did not wait any longer and entered the midwife's tent where only a few minutes ago he heard Daenerys screaming in such a way that he was about to enter and kill whoever was causing that pain. Tormund, his daughter, and another group of men held him back and explained that it was totally normal, and even Jon – the rational part of his mind at least, told himself that it was supposed to be like that.</p><p>"Bringing life to the world is a battle cry," Munda said. </p><p>However, the fear he had gone through again was indescribable. He could still feel spasms of it. </p><p>When she entered, Daenerys was already settled on a cot, skins covering her completely except for the upper part of her body, where she was holding an enveloped bundle near her chest.</p><p>"Hey," she greeted him, looking up and meeting his eyes. Her face – it brightened with joy despite the obvious exhaustion. </p><p>Jon remembered again when she told him that she couldn't have children. An outdated statement as fact but incredibly significant now.</p><p>"She is perfect," she said as he went approaching slowly and enthralled. He heard a suckling sound and a soft whimper. </p><p>"Are you fine?" he asked her, still stunned and speechless.</p><p>"No, I'm not," she admitted honestly. "But she worth it all the pain."</p><p>And because he felt it as a blow to the face, he replied, "I love you, Dany." He still felt that there was a blank space between them to fill. Notwithstanding this, he was sure – and he knew that she was too, that being together was the right thing to do. That they and their family together were the most correct thing in the world.</p><p>She smiled and extended her hand open, inviting him to join her.</p><p>"And I love you, too." </p><p>    </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><em>Indeed, she is perfect</em>, Jon thought, while holding the small babe in his arms and watching her sleep peacefully. She had barely opened her eyes a couple of times, but he was already assumed that she had inherited all the features of her mother.</p><p>"How are we going to name her?" he asked. </p><p>"I chose the name of our other two. You should choose now," Dany answered.</p><p>Jon smiled foolishly and wondered if she was aware of how much it meant for him. </p><p>"I was thinking in a name, actually," he admitted, "You know it was because of Ser Davos that I knew from you and that he died bringing that information to me?" he reminded, his voice breaking a little at the end of the sentence.</p><p>"I do," she said, stroking circles on his back in consolation. </p><p>"If you don’t like it –,"</p><p>"Jon, just say it," she encouraged him.</p><p>He smiled again.</p><p>"Dalya."</p><p>"Dalya?" Dany repeated, frowning first and then beaming. "It's a beautiful name, I love it."</p><p><em>Dalya Targaryen</em>, he thought, returning his eyes to his little princess.</p><p>It was there that he thought of his children in that way. Jorian, Missella, and Dalya of House Targaryen. And all those who would come after them.</p><p>Dany had said that she never told them who they were, but Jon was sure it was time to stop living in ignorance or denial. That had cost him everything once and he was unwilling to live like that again.</p><p>"Fetch the children," Dany told him.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Although Jorian had received the news of the baby with little enthusiasm, it was he who approached first while Missella got a little scared and preferred to hug Jon until she felt comfortable. Dany had been away from them for almost a whole day and they were desperate to see her.</p><p>"She is pink!" Jorian pointed out, stroking softly Dalya's face as she sucked on Dany's breast. The baby replied with a frown. "She is very small!" he added, before complaining that he wanted a brother so he could teach him how to use a sword as Jon had taught him.</p><p>He and Dany laughed, explaining that nothing was stopping him from teaching his sister how to use a sword. That he just had to wait for her to grow.</p><p>"I don't like waiting. We are always waiting," Jorian continued his complaints although in a more relaxed way than usual. "Missella, come see the baby," he encouraged his sister.</p><p>Missella shook her head but then craned her neck for a little peek.</p><p>"You can come, my love. She is just tiny as you and your brother were when you first left my tummy," Dany persuaded her. Jon was impressed by the natural way she talked to them, never in a tone that was too innocent or silly. </p><p>Dany stretched out her arm towards Missella and the little girl accepted, walking slowly to the cot and leaning on Dany without touching the baby, looking over.</p><p>"Jorian is right, she is pinkie!" she commented excitedly this time. When the baby stirred, she rushed back into Jon's arms but this time not so scared.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"How long?"</p><p>Dany, who was calmly working on a new dress for Missella on their bed, looked at him without understanding at first until she caught the meaning of his words. They had returned to the cabin and a few days had passed since Dalya's birth. </p><p>"Not as much as it will take to regain the control of the places I left behind," it sounded as she was referring to both senses: her control over her own life and that of the cities in Essos she liberated and reigned shortly. "For all I know, as soon as I died the masters took down all my work. And killed those I trusted with it." </p><p>"And where will you begin first?"</p><p>The answer did not surprise him.</p><p>"Volantis."</p><p>He closed his eyes with growing apprehension. <em>The place where she would find war and danger</em>, he knew.</p><p>"The Red Priestesses?" </p><p>"Yes."</p><p>Jon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Dalya was asleep placid and full in the crib that he had built for her when Dany was still pregnant.</p><p>"Let me come with you," he asked for, knowing the response he'd receive.</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>She looked up at him with soft, candid eyes.</p><p>"I need to do this on my own," she put aside her work and clapped her hands on her lap, a stance he remembered from the first time they met. "Besides, something tells me you are well protected here. As much as it enrages me, they can't know about us, about our children. Not for the time being." Her expression went hardening as she uttered her speech. "I know I have enemies and I'll make some more soon. They have killed everyone I cared for already once, I cannot lose these children nor I can lose you. That's why I will ask you to take care of them and don't rush this affair with you hating sister –,"</p><p>"Cousin," he corrected, again. </p><p>She stopped midsentence; her stiff posture and shaky breathing.</p><p>"If, at any moment, I know that Sansa represents a threat for you or our children I will come and burn her inside her castle to the ground," and, as if fearing what he would think of her statement, Dany asked, in a calmer tone: "Will you oppose to that?"</p><p>Right there, something twisted and warped woke up inside him, and he didn't know if it was a combination of the whole situation or this last gesture of doubt on her part. </p><p><em>After everything that has happened, </em>he thought. </p><p>He looked down, a little exhausted of this matter. He placed his hand above her tight before he ran it to the side and squeezed a little bit unkindly. In response, she jolted in surprise.</p><p>"I will just find a good point of view to watch it burn."</p><p>She took a deep breath and settled in his words in her troubled mind. Her amethyst eyes, filled with a glow that only he knew. <em>Desire</em>, because he felt the same way.</p><p>Would she know how much control she maintains over everything? He wondered. Jon felt the urge to take it back since it was not the time for it to get any further. This desire he felt was beyond the physical.</p><p>Jon climbed down the bed and knelt once again in front of her.</p><p>"Marry me."</p><p>Her answer was to frown because she understood that it was less a question and more a demand. However, that did not intimidate her. He didn't know if he had the ability to impress her that way anymore.</p><p>"Aren't we already pass that stage?" she asked, amused. </p><p>To some extent, they were.</p><p>"Say the words, then," he encouraged her, "You just have to say that you are mine."</p><p>Dany giggled, also enraptured in the oblivion of the moment. </p><p>"I've been yours for a long time now," she said. "But if you need them, then yes, I am yours and you are mine. From this day until the end of my days."</p><p>First, he didn't recognize the vows of the southern gods but the moment he did, Jon got up and went for his black cloak of the Night's Watch. He walked back to Dany, placing it over her shoulders.</p><p>"Black has always been my color, after all," he intended to joke, but Dany's face looked moved and stunned by this gesture. "I know you don't need my protection but I swear that I will protect what is ours. I take you as my wife, and I become your husband from this day to the end of my days."</p><p>Almost simultaneously, both assaulted the lips of the other in a kiss that sealed a promise that he intended to fulfill even if his own life depended on it. He had broken oaths before and for this, he had paid high prices: death, the tragedy of losing the love of his life, and losing part of the life of his first children.</p><p>Jon made two promises to himself that day, the first one being his eternal and unconditional loyalty to her. The other, which he did not say out loud, was that he would make all those who had wronged them pay for what they had done and that one day he would give her all that she lost because of this love. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Daario (I)</strong> </p><p><strong>Pentos, Essos</strong>.</p><p>He did not consider himself an overly intelligent man, nor did he have any desire to be. However, he was good at intuiting who people really were and that's why it was fucking amusing to see Tyrion Lannister's stunned expression when it all happened.</p><p><em>What more could you expect from a mercenary than to turn where gold shines brighter?</em> That is what most people would think. In fact, that's exactly what he did as soon as he saw himself caught between a rock and a hard place after his queen died. The pain, the pressure of his companions, and his broken heart were a fatal combination that led him to make a hasty decision that he was now condemned to repair if he wanted to have Daenerys back.</p><p>That was the only reason he had agreed to tolerate, and for the moment, to let Tyrion live. That did not mean that he could have fun for a while so he did not bother to clarify to the imp that the election of the Prince of Pentos would be the ideal setting for Freya to make a show of his power and that the only reason he was attending was that he would take the city for himself.</p><p>"And Westerosi say that we are the freaks!" King Freya shouted, cleaning himself up after inhaling that strange dust that got into his nose every time after the carnage. He had his dagger in hand, the same one he had used to stab into the face of the elected Prince of Pentos repeatedly after the naive idiot had invited him over. "A dwarf. What does this mean, Naharis?"</p><p>"The dwarf is the true power behind the king of Westeros," he clarified, leaning back in the seat that was occupied and totally indifferent to the chaos around him. Still, some guests writhed as Freya's men continued to slaughter them. Tyrion, trembling and in shock, tried to revive the old man who had helped them to get in. </p><p>"Bring me the dwarf's head!" Freya ordered, and Daario would have been more than happy to oblige if it wasn't because the dwarf's head belonged to Daenerys. His men stepped forward to shield Tyrion.</p><p>"It's not in your best interest, King Freya. The dwarf knows something that may interest you." Daario looked to the side and signaled to Tyrion to stop being a coward. "Speak, or the next thing you will know is that your head hangs on a pike on the city walls."</p><p>Tyrion returned to his seat, his gaze lost.</p><p>"Daenerys...Daenerys Targaryen is alive."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>"I know that she spent her childhood in exile, impoverished, living on dreams and schemes, running from one city to the next, always fearful, never safe, friendless but for a brother who was by all accounts half-mad... a brother who sold her maidenhood to the Dothraki for the promise of an army. I know that somewhere upon the grass, her dragons hatched, and so did she. I know she is proud. How not? What else was left her but pride? I know she is strong. How not? The Dothraki despise weakness. If Daenerys had been weak, she would have perished with Viserys. I know she is fierce. Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen are proof enough of that. She has survived assassins and conspiracies and fell sorceries, grieved for a brother and a husband and a son, trod the cities of the slavers to dust beneath her dainty sandaled feet."</p><p>Keep in mind I still hate the whole MQ plot, however, I just want to prove that D&amp;D had a suitable dialogue served on a tray for Tyrion to convince Jon that Daenerys had crossed a line of no return without having to compare slavers with Jews and gaslight their own audience.</p><p>Sorry for the delay. Sometimes I try to nuance my ideas by going to some places (forums) where I shouldn't go to read some well-founded opinions that disagree with mine (law student practice, lol) and I made the mistake of reading things that have put me off a little. Don't worry, I'm going to try to follow my own instinct from now on and imagine that these are my own characters hahaha.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Leads you here despite your destination.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorryyy again for the delay. Mid-terms are over but I'm helping my mom with her online classes so technically I am making two careers lol.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>14. </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Leads you here despite your destination.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He narrowed his eyes to fix them on the boat that crossed the river and counted the men on board and the weapons they had. Knights mayhaps they were, Jarl didn’t learn to tell the difference during his short stay in the northern kingdom. Regardless of what they were, death awaited them.</p><p>They would not expect such an attack, Snow said, and he doubted that until the very moment this retinue separated from the rest of the group. A shortcut down the river they conceived safer. A shortcut that only one of them could know about.</p><p>Men of the north called themselves but lacked the guts of free men like them. Jarl gripped his ax, having discarded the use of a sword which was unknown to him, and followed Torvir's signal to move on.</p><p>A battle cry escaped his lips, then he scrambled to his feet and launched another attack at the kneeler soldier, his blade coming in a small arc, too brief for a proper defense. His ax went in and out of his throat so fast that he had time to deliver another blow on his nape and rip his head off completely.</p><p>This felt glorious.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>“Look at me, I am fancy kneeler lord!” Torvir mocked. He could hear on his back the other warriors arguing about the poked spoil.</p><p>He was not interested in the specifics of Snow's plan, so once they diverted the course of the boat to the White Knife towards the hills from which they had first sailed, Jarl sat on the bow and watched the horizon.</p><p>"Jarl, man, come see this," someone else urged him, making it impossible for him to close his eyes and take a sleep.</p><p>He turned around briefly, catching a glimpse of them around an open chest full of glowing metal and other stuff.</p><p>"I thought Snow said not to touch the coin,” he warned them, having been in close touch with that man's wroth.</p><p>"He never said anything about the rest."</p><p>He yawned and stretched before finally walking towards them, looking more clearly at the contents of the spoil. Not even in the best looting seasons could they obtain such thing.</p><p>"Do you think he'll let us keep this?" Oreval asked, a crown in his hands.</p><p>"And who is he to tell me what to do or not? I killed those men. It is my plunder!" Steidir answered, to which the others look at him pointedly.</p><p>"Don’t be a fucking turd,” Torvir said, taking a long, yellow chain from his grip. “When others know what we got thanks to his leading–"</p><p>Gazes fell on him and everyone silently agreed that they preferred not to go against the man that had defeated death itself and whose woman could not burn. They were more than ordinary folk, and while their people could gain something of it all, why bother to end up tied and naked on a pole. Bitterness tested on his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Castle Black</strong>.</p><p>Varamyr and Jon climb off the iron cage after spending the whole day up there. He chatted with some of the other men before walking towards Tormund who was in the galleries, just waiting. </p><p>"They've done. They have the gold," he announced with a particular sparkle in his eyes. They walked to the tower he made his shelter, probably eager to return to the settlement with his wife and children.</p><p>"And now what?" Tormund asked him.</p><p>"Now we wait."</p><p>"We wait for your sister to come?"</p><p>Jon let out a burst of cynical laughter.</p><p>"She has no means for that. Even if she gathers enough support, they've come to see her for what she is, a weak and overconfident child." </p><p>He agreed on that. When Jon proposed taking part in her borrowed coin, Tormund knew that it was not just a robbery for him but a way to prove to his sister that he could outdo her in matters of war. Still, there was something amiss he wasn’t taking into consideration.</p><p>"Our men are not given to forbearance, Jon," Tormund warned. "Mayhaps we cannot make use of coin but they will see the value of anything that shines enough."</p><p>This statement made Jon stopped on his track and turned around.</p><p>“What do you mean? It’s of no use here. The more I’ve seen you do with the loot is burying it.”</p><p>“Aye. Still, it will bring us trouble if we don’t decide what to do with it. Do you have a plan?”</p><p>Brow furrowed, he blinked away.</p><p>“I can have Captain Salladhor do something with it.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Winterfell</strong>.</p><p>"Your grace," Maester Wolkan softly murmured at the entrance of her chambers. </p><p>The several women in the room turned around though the call was very obviously not for them. Sansa set the embroidery she was working on aside and excused herself in front of her ladies in waiting. The truth is that she was about to finish the meeting before Wolkan had walked in since the young girls did lose interest in what she was trying to teach them.<em> I need a Septa</em>, she thought. But having a Maester was enough for this independent kingdom that venerated the Old Gods firstly and foremost. Southern customs seemed to be less appreciated in the North more than ever.</p><p>This time, she did not refuse the help of her cane to get up. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The Maester explained the situation with his characteristic thoroughness and delicacy, dodging the points that could torment the queen more than it should. Sansa noted that since her marriage to Ramsey, this was the only person who could read her so easily. </p><p>"He knew it. He knew about the secret entourage and he's using his knowledge to destroy me!" Sansa spat, pacing the room with obvious difficulty. "If he wants it that way, I'll give him what's he's looking for. Bring me ink and parchment, Maester Wolkan. It's time for me to resort to my mother's side of the family.”</p><p>Of all the things she could imagine Jon capable of, being a thief was something only her mother would have claimed.</p><p>“Your grace, there’s a simpler solution. Please, breathe in and out–”</p><p>He was speaking about that damned documents.</p><p>"Not!" Sansa screamed. "I refuse to let my supposed brother turned into a vile savage twist my will with his deceit and treachery.”</p><p>“My queen, if Jon Snow reveals the truth about what happened back then–”</p><p>She stopped dead. <em>How does he know?</em></p><p>“What are you talking about?” she hissed at him, heart pounding loudly against her ears.</p><p>Wolkan swallowed hard, regretting his boldness. It was not enough to deflect the queen’s rage for she knew there was only one person to who she confided with this truth.</p><p><em>Hali</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Pentos</strong>.</p><p>Daario looked away from the scene taking place before his eyes. Cruelty was not something that could got him wobbling - no, not to a man like him. However, there was something that bothered him and the longer he spent there by Freya's regime of sorcerers and magicians, the worse it would be.</p><p>Successive conquests at Essos under the rule of King Thyssen Freya had taken place at the exact moment that the death of Daenerys (and that of her dragons) spread throughout the continent. It was a matter of survival to find his way out of chaos. <em>Daenerys must understand that</em>, Daario thought.</p><p>He trudged the city's streets with his men surrounding him, puddles of blood stained the cobblestones. Daario still did not understand the extent of the cruelty. It seemed impractical, to say the least. </p><p>He walked over to the temple where Freya had fallen asleep after another of her rounds of passing that crap through his nose. It seemed crazy to him that such a deranged man could command an army that invaded the continent like a plague. One that annihilated everything in its path without much distinction.</p><p>"Freya," Daario woke him up, kicking an empty glass bottle aside. "Where's my imp?"</p><p>It had been quite a while since he allowed them to imprison Tyrion. Another test of good faith on his part. He was sure that for the moment they were not going to kill the dwarf. For some reason, the story that Tyrion wielded some form of power and influence on the western continent had caught the attention of the King and his followers.</p><p>Freya stretched, he had a dagger in his hand with which he levered himself and sit with his arse on the ground.<br/><br/></p><p>"The next time you interrupt my nap, I'm going to hang your head right by the balls of my mount," he growled with bloodshot eyes. "The dwarf has lion blood. Or so my friends said."</p><p>His friends were the skeleton men who accompanied him everywhere. Sometimes it seemed just one person until suddenly there were several ones. Dark magic, he knew.</p><p>"How much longer for Volantis?"</p><p>The man lunged towards Daario and shoved him down the stairs. It was not the first time that he had received one of these assaults. The last time, wanting to defend himself, he ended up with the scar he now wore cutting half his neck down to his chest. So this time his men let the deranged King have his fun, also fearful of the sorcerer's appearance.</p><p>"Are you questioning me? to your King? I should cut off your damn tongue!" he shouted, spitting at his face. Then he burst out laughing. He kissed Daario's forehead. "You are a good soldier, Daario Naharis. You will have your reward when your queen appears. After having my fun with her and before yielding her to the Warlocks, I will leave you some time with her for posterity."</p><p>Just like that, the deranged man moved from above him and returned to the temple.</p><p>Daario clenched his fists in suppressed anger as he stood up. No qualms about what could happen, he dared to say, "It won't be that simple. We are talking about a woman who defeated death itself! Her son...you cannot kill him. Maybe it was easy with his brothers but he-"</p><p>"Who speaks about murdering the dragon?"</p><p>"You will never get to her. Not while Drogon lives." With a knot in his chest that burned so badly it could well be the dragon fire going through him, he added, "Only one man could kill Daenerys Targaryen. And you are not that man."</p><p>Far from being offended, Freya's gaze lit up like a thousand fires.</p><p>"Only a fool Westerosi would considerate to kill such a magnificent creature," he revealed and Daario could feel each fucking hair of his body ruffled. "We are Essossi people, our blood exudes magic. I know people already caught that same dragon and his brothers once."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Pentos</strong>.</p><p>The squeak of the degreased hinges of the doors of the hall that resembled more a dungeon made him shake off his torpor, with a start so sudden that his forehead hit the iron bars he was leaning on. His mind had lost all sense of space and time, and his body all sensitivity. Although at the beginning of his confinement, he feared every time one of those warlocks appeared to extract his blood, this time Tyrion wished it were them that finally had come to put an end to his misery. Instead, heavy and loud steps made their way across the room with the announcement of a different presence.</p><p>Tyrion made an effort to hold on to the bars of the tiny cage that forced him to slouch and looked through the grown strands of his stinking hair at the person who was approaching where he was. Sapphire's eyes looked at him, not for the first time.</p><p>King Freya watched him carefully as if he were an exotic beast, which in a way was how he had been treated the time he was there, at his mercy or at the mercy of those beings who accompanied him. All the guards who had accompanied him from King's Landing for an eventual emergency had perished before the dwarf's undaunted eyes as their lives seemed to be of less value in the eyes of their captors. Of Daario Naharis, from whom he had expected nothing, nothing he knew about his whereabouts.</p><p>The self-determined king or conqueror sat down on the ground to be at the same level with the caged dwarf, leaning his back against a column and raising his knees to his chest to leave one arm lying languidly. The other arm found for a flask that he opened up with his teeth, spitting the cork away. After he drank from it before Tyrion’s aching stare, Freya smiled deviously and approached the flask teasingly first, until he yielded it to the prisoner.</p><p>Tyrion had no idea what liquid he was consuming, but he was confident it would be nothing deadly as he let his hopeless situation overcome his good judgment.</p><p>"Do you like stories, my dwarf friend?" Freya asked him after a time, staring with delight at the cruelty to which he was being subjected.</p><p>The icy liquid stung the back of his throat and moistened it, making him cough and welled his eyes with tears.</p><p>"Better off than the truth," he replied.</p><p>Tyrion supposed that it was a benefit to the death row, the fact that the King himself came to tell him the story of his origin but his curiosity was filled. A prolific slave merchant who saw his empire shatter with the appearance of the young Dragon Queen. <em>I am not an ordinary man</em>, Freya said with bright eyes that resembled those of the person he hated the most, apparently. <em>And I am bestowed as any other of my kind is</em>, he told him. <em>Wherever I go, I bring down those who I deem an obstacle and people that are drawn to me, they cheer for me. Tell me, dwarf, has someone cheer for you, ever?</em></p><p>Tyrion did not reply and that was his answer. It was not that he couldn’t understand the feeling though. He was very acquainted with stories of admiration as a power of masses, people that worked with magic – dark magic, this time – and the belief of those chosen ones that everything was at the grasp of their liking.</p><p>“The Warlocks believe creatures like you store magic of long-gone magical beings. I say that land of yours uprooted any kind of magic of its source. Westeros is a land were magic fades and nothing good can grow. Any ill fate that falls upon it, you have it well-deserved it, and I rejoice at the suffering of your people. However, it is where they yet have to see my grandeur, and one day, I will show you – I will show you what this grandeur can do. You will know what true authority is.”</p><p>Either power, magic or his own nature, Tyrion knew this man was consumed by madness, encouraged by beings whose purposes could be nothing but pure evilness. It made him seriously consider whether another evil like Daenerys could nullify or empower him.</p><p><em>Your mission is to convince him is in everyone’s best interest to end Daenerys and Drogon</em>, he remembered Brandon’s voice telling him before his departure. <em>Fail to accomplish this, and the chain of events will be inevitable. You are very good at what you do, I trust you</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (X)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Winterfell</strong>.</p><p>She whipped the spoon in her cup with a little honey to sweeten Maester Wolkan's tea that helped ease the pain in her legs. She was going to need it more than ever, especially on the eve of a long and tedious journey to reunite with those she expected would help end once and for all the ridiculous feud Jon had staged against her. That was not the reason, however, why her hand was shaking.</p><p>"So how did you convince your cousin and uncle to help you, your Grace?" Hali asked sitting across the table, her eyes wide with sincere attention.</p><p>"I have yet to convince them but certainly I have their attention," she replied, sipping and keeping her eyes on the cup of Hali. </p><p>Her young servant girl had her hands hidden in her lap and she didn't seem to like the tea that had been served to her or any of the appetizer around her. Sansa decided to speed up the conversation. "I need to ask something from you, Hali."</p><p>Her attention shot up and Hali rested her hands on the table on either side of her mug.</p><p>"Of course, your grace. You know that I am up for whatever you need," she replied in her sincere helpful tone. Sansa had to suddenly look away to the side.</p><p>"I need you to be my eternal confidant since I don't have anyone else I trust as much as I trust you."</p><p>She didn't hear any response so Sansa assumed Hali was trying to decipher the meaning of her words.</p><p>Finally, the queen sighed and turned her attention to Wolkan's tea and raised her cup.</p><p>"Better times will come, Hali," she said, urging her to accompany her in a symbolic toast. The girl obeyed with a look still confused by the queen's words but having shared the tea so many other times, she drank from it without any suspicion.</p><p>Hali lowered her mug and hid her hands under the table again, where Sansa couldn't see them.</p><p>"Thank you very much, your grace, for placing your trust in me."</p><p>Sansa smiled at the same time with her but it was a subtle and somber gesture, which soon began to morph in an expression of dismay.</p><p>Hali began to cough. Nothing strange at first. Sansa knew her throat would itch and itch until it became unbearable and it had closed completely. Then, the blood from her lungs would collapse from her mouth and eyes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Beyond the Wall</strong>.</p><p>Daenerys unrolled a long piece of parchment and spread it out on the large table of their Great Hall. Then, she began explaining enthusiastically, "I have divided them into six non-determinant classes, so anyone can go from one to the other. It is essential, however, for each person to occupy a place and feel that they belong there. We've worked with a similar system in the city of Meereen, after the liberation."</p><p>As she continued to explain this that Jon had already heard, to the other members of the temporary council they had formed in the dawn of organization of the settlements, he endured the heavy task of keeping their baby girl distracted.</p><p>There was no moment he did not want to have his eyes set on her. Everything about raising this child from the very first breath was a monumental moment for him, that had lost the same opportunity with the twins. And having them was as well a blessing he felt unworthy of. </p><p>Dalya, or <em>Lya</em> as he's been calling her within his own thought, clasped her hands and made a sound when her violet eyes focused on them as if she had plunged into deep meditation. <em>She's brooding</em>, Dany used to tease him. <em>No, she is just thinking it thoroughly</em>, he answered her. What possibly a babe this little could be thinking of? He wondered himself. Jon drew near his own finger so she could grasp it in her small but tight fist, making her frown at the intrusion. It was something that delighted him greatly, to stir her babe's reactions.</p><p>Voices rose in the background forcing him to look up. Dany and another man argued about something he hadn't paid attention to moments before.</p><p>"Children will be children and therefore they will learn all those things they need for when they are old enough to decide what to do on their own," Dany snapped with a rigid and irrefutable stance. "You can teach him to hunt, but the struggles and battles leave them as a last resort."</p><p>Torigar the black as he was called after his long black bear kept on arguing and Jon had to suppress the urge to stand and quench the discussion in favor of his wife. <em>I can handle them myself</em>, Dany reminded him before umpteen times. The truth was, he couldn't be prouder and happier of her renewed determination even when bordered on stubbornness. </p><p><em>She will leave you</em>, a shaddy little thought crept in. He deviated from it and focused his eyes on Lya again, a source of comfort for his soul as his children were the only thing that kept him away from those dark ruminations. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Jorian, my hair!" </p><p>"I just wanted my sword back!"</p><p>"You hurt me!"</p><p>"You two stop now!" </p><p>He turned around just a minute to collect a couple of things that the children had thrown to the floor when Jorian and Missella started arguing. And the arguing became fighting in just a second, with hair pulls and slaps. Missella began to cry uncontrollably.</p><p>"Jon, what's going on?" Dany asked from the other bedroom. </p><p>Jorian had been recounting the events of the day while giving little jumps on the bed while playing with his wooden sword when he accidentally pulled Missella's curls. Or so Jon deduced it happened. Both children's voices combined had created a great fuss as if the other didn't want to allow the other to speak.</p><p>"Jorian, enough!" he scolded him, with a severe tone that he was sure Dany could pick up from where she was in their room, feeding the baby. </p><p>The boy fell onto the bed and pouted before imitating his sister's whining. <em>Very well</em>, Jon thought, who didn't know how to silence their chatting and now would have to find a way to silence their cries.  On other occasions, he has dealt with their tantrums the way Lord Stark did with his children because it was the only reference he could remember, leaving them to deal with their crying on their own so that they understood that it was not the way to get what they wanted. However, he did not remember Lord Stark spending as much time with them as Jon did with Missella and Jorian. And part of him feared that his acerbity could return in the form of hatred, estrangement, or even fear especially in times where their little sister's recent arrival could stir sentiments of abandonment and jealousy in them. If anything, Jon loathed the notion of his children looking at him the way he saw his father...<em>his uncle</em>. </p><p>He sat on the bed and pulled them in an embrace that they rapidly accepted. After they had vented their plight, Jon tucked them under the furs and took Jorian's sword to the chest, explaining that he was at risk of breaking it if he crushed it in his sleep. Then he grabbed the cloth dolls that Salladhor had given them a while ago on his last visit and handed one to each.</p><p>"Jorian, what do we do when we hurt someone?"</p><p>His son looked over at his sister with dejected eyes. </p><p>"Sorry Missella," he apologized, hugging her and kissing her on the side of the forehead. Missella simply brought her hand to her head where her hair had been pulled and pouted again. "Missella, do you forgive me?" Jorian asked with sincere concern.</p><p>Missella did not answer, and Jon frowned, puzzled.</p><p>"Missella?" Jorian asked again, in a tone so innocent and naive that made Jon feel for him.</p><p>He approached Missella, who was fiddling with her doll while humming. </p><p>"Missella, it's good to accept an apology," Jon reminded her. </p><p>"I do forgive him," she finally said. </p><p>Jon smiled. Usually, it was strange for them to fight each other, and even stranger for Missella to be active in the conflict. But as they grew older and with the new baby's presence, their behavior also changed.</p><p>He felt terribly melancholic watching them grow, much as he was glad for being there to see it.</p><p>"Jorian, finish your story. I want to hear it. Then Missella can sing for us, yes?" </p><p>Both children obliged and after what it seemed long minutes, they fell asleep and Jon returned to his wife and his other child. </p><p>At her five moons of existence, Dalya was known between their people as the silver baby because of the accentuated Valyrian features she inherited. She was already in her crib, glowing with her hands by her small head of silver hair deep in slumber. Jon bent down and kiss her there before turning his attention on Dany. </p><p>"It's incredible how much she resembles you," he commented. </p><p>"She is my daughter," she shrugged it off.  "You know what would have been amusing? That you had never discovered who you were and had a daughter like Dalya."</p><p>As much as he understood the punch line of her joke, he didn't like it. Not because she mentioned the topic they would never talk about but because the sole idea of a life like that - or most specifically, a life <em>without them</em>, was unbearable for him.</p><p>"That would've never happened," he stated, taking his clothes off and joining her on the bed. </p><p>"Why not?" she asked, mystified.</p><p>"Because I would've never had children if it wasn't with you," he rested his head on her lap, and she started running her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, worn out. For a moment she did not respond and he slowly went drifting into sleep. </p><p>"You don't know that," she said softly, after a time.</p><p>Jon sighed, blinking, and focusing on her purple eyes that looked at him with a certain sadness. He knew she was saying something else to him.</p><p>"This thing, I do know, Dany," he pledged, grabbing her nape and pushing her down to unite their lips in a kiss. She breathed heavily and cup his face to hoist him upright. They parted and looked at each other for a long moment before smiling like fools. She slid down on the bed to lie on his chest and begin to comment lightly on things related to the organization of the settlement. He listened, though his mind drifted for some reason to her children's discussion minutes earlier. "The more they grow the more afraid I am," he confided her, drowsy and almost lost in his dreams.</p><p>"Afraid of what?" he heard her reply. </p><p>"Of the world itself. I am afraid that something bad can happen to them or to you."</p><p>She was combing his hair.</p><p>"I am afraid that something bad can happen to you, too. All the time." She put a light kiss on his forehead and continue her fondle. "I wonder if there's a place in the world where we can go...and never come back."</p><p>Jon smiled. </p><p>"When you find it, let me know."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"F-r-e-e-dom? Freedom...like the Free Cities?"</p><p>Val captured random words from the book and the map she had open to one side and as she liked she learned to spell them. In this way, it took more time than necessary to learn them but Dany knew that with people of her age it was better to let them develop the learning at their own rhythm. </p><p>"Very good, Val!" Missella congratulated her, who as a prize gave her a fresh-baked cookie to which Val accepted giving the girl a wink in complicity. In the settlement, they now had a kind of bakery thanks to Salladhor's efforts to bring in builders from the south. In fact, the one there had been built by the same inhabitants who went to learn in Hardhome, where construction began to shape a city and where there was no need to maintain some discretion about it as there in Wolves' Den as they had begun to call their small community, in reference to the pack of wolves of which Ghost was part and that were always around the area. </p><p>"Yes, very good indeed–ah!" Dany replied but was interrupted midsentence by her youngest daughter on her lap. Dalya had started playing painfully with her nipple on her mouth. She has entered that terrible stage of teething and as her siblings before her, she let Dany know in the worst possible way. "Free Cities because they are free from any Kingdom's subjection," she finally explained to the other woman.</p><p>"They are–" she looked upon the map and counted them, before grabbing the quill and writing down the word <em>nine</em>. "Nine?"</p><p>Daenerys looked at the notes Val was talking and frowned. Everything was related to Free Cities. Rather with what lay beyond the Narrow Sea. Several times she has forced Dany to tell her everything there was to know about Essos and had insisted on the possibility of plundering eastern lands. Plunder in the strictest sense of exploring those lands and at best obtain wealth from the men who enslaved people, as Dany herself did before.</p><p>The fact that Kinvara had fascinated the wildlings with those tales of feats and exploits did not help her cause. People assumed that with her, Daenerys Targaryen, the Dragon Queen among them, great riches and victories would be obtained. A veneration that bothered her because, in reality, she was no longer a Dragon Queen but a simple mother and settler. So, Dany started pushing that narrative in Jon's direction. He was their one true protector, the one who had fought for them as their equal. He abhorred this but accepted it so she wouldn't be reminded of what she no longer was. </p><p>By the time Salladhor comes with the news of the situation in Essos with this King Freya and the insistence of Kinvara of the event brewing in Volantis, Daenerys has taken the decision to prepare her unavoidable departure. And this, it's a breaking point in her relationship with Jon again. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"You promised me that <em>that</em> would be when they were grown," he told her, not confronting her but dejected by the idea of what was unstoppable. "Dany, gods, they are so small–"</p><p>"They are small and you are warring against your sister," she opposed.</p><p>"I am not risking my life in battle," he rebutted. "Haven't you thought about us if something happens to you? Lya is only a babe. Missella and Jorian...they are kids. When you speak about leaving, I think in Rickon and Bran when their parents left them, never to return."</p><p>Daenerys stopped dead at the mention of his family, the Starks. He never did, nor did she encourage him to, because it had become hopelessly horrifying for both of them. That comparison made her realize that he was somewhat putting her down and from there she had no desire to continue pushing the matter.</p><p>Jon noticed this change apparently as he held her in his arms when a couple of tears slipped from her eyes.</p><p>"I can't lose you Daenerys. Not again," he whispered.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>No other word came out of her mouth when Jon told her that he would speak to a group of warriors and spearwives to begin preparations for the journey to Volantis. He did not do it with the spirit of someone embarking on an adventure, as if it were the spirit of a warrior, yet in his eyes, she saw the hint of faith that they both had shared at some point and had lost with the events that led to their first separation. </p><p>Dalya was almost on her first nameday and the twins were already six. Because Munda had become a constant presence in her life since she had arrived at the settlement, Dany was sure that her children would be in safe hands when their father was dealing with his own struggles. Nothing prevented her heart from breaking at the thought of the separation and the only thing that brought her some calm were Kinvara's words one night.</p><p>"Do you think our Lord will bring you back just for you to lose your renewed life pointlessly? You have not yet seen half of your legacy coming into fruition, Daenerys Targaryen."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She walked the wooden platform that had been placed over the river that formed a kind of cross, towards its center where she and the other women, mostly spearwives, stood with their cloaks stained with animal blood. Their faces were painted in white and their heads decorated with crowns of flowers, leaves, and twigs.</p><p>The thumpers sounded loud as the cries of the onlookers stunned her a little; the adrenaline and emotion waned that feeling and she found herself strangely excited. It was a wedding in the style of the wildlings. <em>Of the Free Folk</em>, she corrected herself.</p><p>Throughout her life, she has been in contact with so many cultures that nothing could surprise her anymore, no matter how outlandish they seemed. </p><p>She met the groom's eyes and gave him a soft nod and a half-smile. Then her eyes searched for another pair among the people but she knew it would be difficult to find them.</p><p>A woman, Amira, sang a heartrending song about a savage warrior and her companion who had sworn eternal love in the middle of a war. In it, they met, loved each other, and died together. She blinked and looked away because something inside her had been moved. When the hype and the folk songs had stopped, the bride appeared and walked on the same platform.</p><p>The affair was fairly quick once Val and Jarl were done with the ritual. After the kiss that sealed that promise, Tormund and another group of men jumped into the icy water (which took Dany by surprise) and helped the newlyweds reach the shore, holding them by their feet. A gesture that welcomed them into their community.</p><p>The celebration that took place afterward was scandalous and typical of the Free Folk. With time and the settling of the people who had chosen to inhabit these lands, there was a feeling of greater tranquility and carefreeness. The fortifications that were built around the settlement gave the place an image more in line with what could become a true city in the future. </p><p>Dany was walking past the half-built garrison toward the empty tent where she and the spearwives preened themselves for the ceremony. </p><p>She took off the flower crown and tossed it aside, taking a basin of clean water and a rag. Some things scattered here and there gave her a warm feeling of closeness, reminiscent of a distant life that no longer existed. She took a hand mirror and looked at her face, laughing at herself as she remembered Jorian and his "<em>you look like Ghost</em>" comment.</p><p>In the reflection, she saw a darkened figure making his way in through the flaps of the tent. Jon stood there watching her back, or appreciating it. </p><p>She met his eyes in the mirror. </p><p>"Do you like what you see?" she asked him in a suggestive and playful tone. </p><p>"You look stunning," he told her, walking closer. She knew he was there but didn't saw him. </p><p>"I know," she petulantly acknowledges with a smirk. After she whipped her face, she turned around. "Where are the children?"</p><p>"With the other children. Munda is taking care of Lya."</p><p>She smiled when she heard him calling their baby like that way, as he hardly ever referred to his true parents. </p><p>"I'll go fetch her as soon as I take this thing out of my face, completely," she said, still rubbing the wet cloth on her face.</p><p>He didn't move and instead moved closer until he was in front of her. She threw a quizzical look at him.</p><p>"It could be us."</p><p>Dany gave him the back and continue with her work. He followed her, enclosing her by putting each arm on her sides and leaning over her and the small table where she scattered some of her stuff. </p><p>"We are already married," Dany refuted, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"You know what I mean. If we are to be King and Queen for them...mayhaps it shall be done in their way."</p><p>Dany scoffed and shook his head from side to side. </p><p>"We had to force them or either they would never stop their ritual of mating! Jarl killed over a dozen men and Val..." she remembered the night she attacked them. "I don't want to think about their way," she stated with a grave tone. </p><p>He was so close to her that his fur and leather-covered body hovered over her.</p><p>"If you ask me to do it, I'll do it, you know?" </p><p>"Do what?"</p><p>"Lay on your feet all the men that throw lewd glances at you, so you will take me." He frowned. "I will lose most of my men, though."</p><p>She laughed no before slapping him with the back of her hand. Jest or not, his display of savagery always elicited a similar reaction from her.</p><p>"Would you fuck me over the corpse of a dead man, Jon Snow? We are too much of <em>kneelers</em> for that," she turned and saw him smiling. After she put a light kiss on his lips, she returned to clean her face and comb her hair. "Jorian asked me the other time what that word means."</p><p>"Aye, he also asked me why they call me King Crow and not King Wolf."</p><p>"King," she uttered with a soft voice. "I like that word in reference to you." She finished and collect her things. "You know what Val told me? That <em>we</em> are invited to their cabin tonight," she said teasingly knowing what sort of answer she would get</p><p>"Never,” he grunted. “Only if it's to kill them both."</p><p>She agreed and blurted out in laughter. None of them was willing to share the other. </p><p>Both returned to the celebration, just in time to observe that the children were already with the dancers around the fire. Jon, as always, flinched a bit as Daenerys stared in fascination at the imagen of her son and daughter prancing around the fire.</p><p>Dalya spread her arms and began to babble "mama" as soon as she saw Daenerys. She thanked Munda and took her baby daughter in her arms, covering her from the cold, although in this sense the girl was more like her father and sister, and rejected her shelter against the cold. With her small hand, she began to scratch the front of her mother's dress in a clear demanding gesture.</p><p>Dany settled the baby so that she could feed her decorously, covering herself with the help of her cloak. Jon brought food to her and Daenerys relaxed in her seat, enjoying the festive environment. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He heard her sob but refused to witness that moment going inside the cabin. In fact, he believed that she needed to do it alone in order to understand the gravity of what she was doing, and somehow he expected it would help her to make this journey as short as possible.</p><p>Ahead of him, was Kinvara watching him with piercing dark eyes. It did not intimidate him in any way.</p><p>"She will return. And with her will come the inevitable," Kinvara pointed out to him. Jon didn't want to delve into what that meant. Instead, he replied.</p><p>"I want all my people back," he warned her.</p><p>The priestess let out a scoff.</p><p>"Those who have to lay down their lives for the greater good will do so, Aegon Targaryen."</p><p>It wasn't the first time she'd called him by his birth name, and yet each time it made him shake a little with indescribable emotion.</p><p>He heard Daenerys close the cabin door behind her. She had said goodbye to the children who were still sound asleep and who would wake up in the morning to discover her departure.</p><p>Despite the conflicted emotions that invaded him, he received her in an embrace, and together they walked the way to Salladhor's boat waiting in the harbor. He exchanged a few words with the captain as Daenerys talked to Munda about the children.</p><p>"Anything drastic that happens, anything that escapes the original plan-" Jon began but was interrupted by the Captain.</p><p>"Tie her up and bring her back, I get it," Salladhor scratched his bear. "I'm not going to lie to you though, if that fire breathing demon shows up-"</p><p><em>Drogon</em>.</p><p>Jon took a deep breath.</p><p>They waited until everyone was aboard. Daenerys held his hand with a tight grip. </p><p>"You know I am coming back? That I am not leaving you or the children?"</p><p>In his heart, he knew it and trusted her word as much as her determination. However, a part of him that seemed to always be angry that he had allowed this situation to turn in their lives, wanted to keep her there and never let her go. </p><p>"I do," he said, turning to cup her face and watch into those beautiful eyes of her. "And you know that I love you and that I will do whatever that needs to be done for us to be together for good?"</p><p>She smiled widely and nodded. </p><p>Finally, with a goodbye kiss, he let her go. </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The dark stuff is coming and with it, some characters assassination (figuratively and literally LOL) don't kill me for that, keep in mind this an exaggerated version of the characters.</p><p>I know you need the piece of mind that comes with the knowledge that they won't be separated more than one chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. So far from who I was, from who I love, from who I want to be.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have this bad habit of editing the thing here and in a fatal mistake of mine, I accidentally pressed a key that closed the tab and erased all the work I had done. Yes, what ya' hear is a crying of frustration. LOL. I'm going to try to have that other half finished today so I can update you with the resolution of this Volantis subplot.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>15.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>So far from who I was, from who I love, from who I want to be.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Somewhere, Narrow Sea</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>When she woke up, for a moment she thought she would see another body next to her, but when she reached out to find it, she realized that there was nothing but emptiness. Just as she felt inside. Each day she woke up without her family was to relive all the pain that had made her so miserable in the past. However, this time was different, she had to remember herself. Her family was not gone forever, they were there and safe. And the only way to free them from the same weight that she had carried all her life on her shoulders, was to finish what she had begun. End her enemies.</p><p>It took Daenerys a couple of nights to finally get used to the feeling. The first days at sea were the most difficult, generally preferring solitude and isolation. The red priestess Kinvara was the only one who dared to knock on her door to keep her informed about the situation in Volantis.</p><p>“The first time you sailed to Westeros, you left your work in Essos unfinished. Slaver’s Bay was only the beginning of the end,” Kinvara explained, “Never you wondered yourself what would’ve been of your subjects on the other side of the Narrow Sea with your departure?”</p><p>“I thought back then having three dragons would be enough of a warning,” she confessed. Clearly, with hindsight, it was a simplistic conception of reality. Mistakes were made, and she herself had made the greatest: underestimate the ruses and influences of her opponents. Trust Tyrion Lannister when her own family was on the other side. <em>Trusting Jon with your heart</em>, said a little voice in her head she quelled easily. If anything, both of them lost while they rejoiced on their suffering.</p><p>“Power does not come without its limitations, Daenerys,” the priestess admonished her, “Your dragon children were and are still seen as weapons for most of this world. You as well started seeing them this way before the death of your first son Viserion.”</p><p>Sharp pain pricked her chest at the memory. She couldn’t fight Kinvara on this because the regret over what happened to her sons was own. As was what happened to Missandei.</p><p>“Torgo Nudho,” she suddenly remembered, “What happened with the Unsullied and the Dothraki?”</p><p>Jon had mentioned her the last time he saw Grey Worm, he was about to sail to an unknown destination. It’s not that she wanted to summon them. She felt not entitled to do so. They’ve fulfilled their promise with her and went beyond by following her on awful misdeeds.</p><p>“I’ll ask the flames, your grace, but I warn you they won’t show me what it must not be seen,” the red woman answered vaguely.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Why don't you join us for a drink?" Val proposed when she entered the ship's common dining hall with the other spearwives.  </p><p>"I rather not," Dany responded with a grunt that resembled Jon’s attitude when he didn’t want to be annoyed.</p><p>"Come on, Dragon Queen. Don't be a boring kneeler lady,” she insisted, sitting next to her and encouraging the other women to follow suit. “I know you are less of a kneeler than Lord Crow,” she whispered with a teasing tone.</p><p>Daenerys tried not to grin but she finally yielded.</p><p>"That's certainly the truth," she agreed.</p><p>Daenerys did not circumvent their company this time, but neither did she joint them for a drink. Instead, she heard them speak of vague matters that helped to set her mind at ease. At some point, Shyra bantered of Val and Jarl’s wooing.</p><p>"May I ask you something?" Daenerys cut in, looking directly at Val.   </p><p>"Now you are speaking," she replied, gripped.</p><p>"Were you really trying to steal Jon or were you trying to get him killed?"</p><p>Everyone on the table turned their attention to them, in anticipation of Val’s response.</p><p>"Is this somehow a decoy, Dragon Queen?" she challenged her.</p><p>"That depends on your answer," Daenerys doubled the stakes.</p><p>Val scoffed and sipped from her ale before answering, "It was his stubbornness. That way of his of being a fucking little prude," she said and the women on the table started laughing and cheering their agreement. It made Daenerys smiled actually. Val cleared her throat and kept on, "I believed I could do it. <em>And</em> for a moment I did it–"</p><p>"What do you mean?" Daenerys interrupted, her body hair standing on end.</p><p>"Easy, Dragon Queen! He never touched anything forbidden but by accident trying to kick me out.” She whispered a curse. "But one day he almost did it. I almost got him killing me and Jarl as any other of us would. I almost got the beast out of that man,” Val sighed like mourning the failed attempt, throwing at her direction a sharp look, "Then you appeared."</p><p>"He tried to kill you both when I was here, too," she remembered her.</p><p>"Yes. <em>Because of you</em>.” Val stood up and raised her ale on the air, toasting, “For the only thing in the world that makes Jon Snow forget his honor: his Dragon Queen."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>"Better off we come up with a clever plan or we are not going to get very far," Salladhor explained once they settled on one of his trusted inns in Braavos. </p><p>"His last sacking was on Pentos. Why not moving further north?"</p><p>"Braavos is a risky asset. The only way for Freya to conquer it is if he has all the free cities in his power and even then I consider that gold will fall from the sky before that happens." </p><p>"He simply does not need it," Kinvara interjected, "Freya power resides on the other powerful people who follow him. Those who opposed your ideals and thrived with your demise and those who have ulterior motives to support him."</p><p>"You mean the Warlocks?" Daenerys asked her.</p><p>Kinvara nodded. It wasn't a surprise that magically found its way to mingle in the whole affair again. </p><p>"We have some borders closed but I can move some contacts to circumvent those controls. Of course, we will have to make use of some of the treasure that your husband gave us."</p><p>She had not agreed to take the stolen coin, at first. <em>I'm just going to take Drogon and finish Freya to let the slavers know I am alive</em>, she had naively told Jon. But that was far from sounding reasonable. The reality was, she only had a small fleet of pirates who hadn't been on the ground too long in years, and a group of wildlings who were only interested in coming home with tales of glory and victory and full loot. Her new campaign lacked the foundation stone of the first one. She was utterly alone. </p><p>"Clever," she thought while looking at the map in contemplation. "We need a clever plan."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Kinvara finished placing the bracelets on the wrist of each warrior and spearwife. They contemplated the shiny object but did not question the meaning of its use, which had been quite far from the truth.</p><p>A way of symbolizing that there were all in this together. That they belonged to the same clan and therefore, they were one in glory and in death. It was something she remembered from her days with the Dothraki and at first, she didn't know if it will work between the Free Folk. It did. They wore the bracelets with pride and promised they will return home with the greatest loot of all the times.</p><p>Daenerys expected to be able to accomplish that promise with them.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She removed her own bracelet and replaced it with one devoid of any spells. Together with Kinvara they marched towards the place where she did it for the first time two years ago, where she mistakenly took off the object that hid her existence in order to see her dragon son.</p><p>"Maybe he will not want to see me again," Daenerys told Kinvara, swallowing the bitter feeling. </p><p>"You should know by now that you and your son have an unbreakable and unprecedented bond," she replied nonchalantly. "A dragon has never carried his rider's lifeless body to be revived."</p><p>She was taken by surprise by this confession. Until then, Dany had believed that Drogon was only following the divine will of the red god.</p><p>"Are you saying R'hllor did not command it?"</p><p>Kinvara smiled. </p><p>"Our Lord commands it everything, your grace. That doesn't mean his commands are easily abided by its recipients."</p><p>Her ambiguities were the reason why she rather chose avoiding Kinvara's enlightenment unless it was unavoidable,  and why Dany never confronted the origin or the purpose behind the magic that had brought her and Jon back. </p><p>They made a small encampment in the forest clearing while they waited for an answer. Due to the time she had spent with the void in her mind, Daenerys found it difficult to find that tether that merged her conscious with Drogon's, finding instead memories of morning cuddles with her children, her fingers running through their curly hairs and the feeling of the soft skin of Dalya's baby face. Eyes welled with tears and muffled sobs escaped her mouth. She wept as a wave of memories flooded her mind. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She sucked in a breath as she felt the familiar heat flood her senses. He had come back at night and woke her up to take her as he did every time he had one of his good fights. And she enjoyed this unbridled version of him too much for questioning him about it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Moon tea or not, he abided by her request to finish off of her to prevent any fair chance to put another child in her. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Don't leave," he whispered to her hear in the aftermath kisses he traced down her neck. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>It wouldn't have mattered if she said yes because she was in a poor state to make decisions.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I will never leave you," she replied instead, nestling him in her embrace firmly with all the might. "I will never leave you," she promised. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany sat upright and took off the furs that covered her when she felt him returning. In a blink of an eye, she was out of her tent looking for his shadow on the sky. However, he came from the gloom of the forest, barely hiding his great shape among the trees and bushes as if he were some feral cat. </p><p>In spite of his unwelcome presence, Dany smiled when she met Drogon's eyes again.</p><p>"<em>Nyke missed ao, ñuha tresy</em>," she said softly while she knelt and outstretched her harm to him. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>King's Landing</strong>.</p><p>He smiled a little when through the eyes of some nocturnal animal he captured the moment of the encounter between mother and son. Drogon was suspicious at first but slowly gave in until Daenerys was able to pat his large snout. </p><p>The moment the priestess appeared, the animal whose mind he had been occupying fell dead on the ground and although he could search for another host, Bran decided to reserve his forces for another occasion. </p><p>He returned to himself in time to see Grand Mastre Samwell Tarly entering the small council meeting room. </p><p>"Your grace," he greeted with a bow. He was carrying a tray with missives that seemed intact. Bran knew what some of them contained.</p><p>"Where is Bronn?" </p><p>His face turned a paler shade. </p><p>"I know he is not in Red Keep," Bran warned. Being the coward he was, Sam did not want to incur in the act of igniting the wrath of the Master of Coin. "The obvious answer must be he is again at the brothels. Tell me, Sam, do you think he is good enough for his position?"</p><p>"He must be–I mean, your grace chose him, isn't it?"</p><p>"I allowed it, which is different. One sometimes has to allow certain bad things to happen for something better to happen later. Did you know the smoke after the fire can bring a greater storm?"</p><p>He was an intelligent man but lacked wit, so he doubted it before stammering a vague answer about the movement of the winds and the permanent consequences of a fire. The King lost interest in the conversation with ease, returning to the recesses of his vast memory. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (X)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Pentos</strong>.</p><p>Tyrion leaned back into the canteen seat and rubbed his face wearily. He had barely managed to fall asleep in the days following his release. It didn't help that he was wandering aimlessly and without reason, while a retinue of guards followed him, keeping an eye on him and barely letting him alone to take a piss.</p><p>Daario was sitting in the opposite seat, drinking calmly and without uttering a single word. Food was served when he decided to start a conversation.</p><p>“I wonder what good queen Daenerys will say when she finds out that you sold her legacy to a madman who thinks he's an envoy of the gods on earth,” he said as he chewed on the worst fried chicken he had ever tasted although it felt like the best after almost being starved to death.</p><p>Daario looked at him askance before answering, "Sent by the gods or not, the man leads this parade. And Daenerys went to die to a land that couldn’t love her as she deserved it. As she was loved here.”</p><p>Tyrion wanted to laugh at the poor attempt to hide his resentment and envy. Where he spoke of a land, Daario meant a man. Jon Snow.</p><p>“I do believe all Kings believed themselves gods, even King Bran,” he continued saying, “and I also think that you, wicked imp, just used her to fuck your way up to survival. It is what unites and divides us as mankind. Our desire to live another day.” He paused to look at Tyrion with a grim expression. “People like Daenerys and Freya are not afraid of death. So, death favors them.”</p><p>"They bring death," Tyrion added. “Death favors them because they provided them of innocent souls to whatever this god of light is. The witch in Meereen had foreshadowed but I had been blind to see it.”</p><p>“Blind to see it?” Daario snorted, “I told her that she had to butcher each of her enemies before she becomes the meat and look at what happened! Dead in the embrace of a lover like a stupid little maiden, just because this coward couldn't see her beyond her power.”</p><p>Tyrion would have protested and told him it took some influence for <em>this coward </em>to finally put his duty first.  It would only give him more reasons to want to slay him.</p><p>“I assume that you would have given her free pass to do what she pleased, seeing as you dealt with this whole Freya thing.”</p><p>“With me by her side,” Daario emphasized, “she would have never fallen for her murderer.”</p><p>Tyrion looked at him unconvinced and hid a smirk behind his tankard.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Do you want some, dwarf?" King <em>madman</em> Thyssen offered his powder on the blade of his dagger. He rapidly shrugged off and sniffed the whole thing. </p><p>Tyrion truly believed that the man thought that every time he offered it to him, he did it the first time. And in some of those opportunities, he was about to accept tempted by the curiosity to know if it was the thing that diverted him from sanity or if he was already delusional by nature.</p><p>"Daenerys Targaryen is in Braavos," he said after shaking himself off as a result of the crap he was consuming. "Karzic and the others believe that she will fly to Volantis to meet the red Priestess. We have to start moving."</p><p>Karzic was one of those monstrous beings they called warlocks.</p><p>Tyrion nodded.</p><p>"So that is the plan of his grace, to win Volantis where the focus of the rebellions is to demonstrate to the rest of Essos his clear political superiority."</p><p>Thyssen burst out laughing and pointed his dagger too close to Tyrion to leave a slight cut on his cheekbone.</p><p>"I like it, I like it, the dwarf reasons and is also sarcastic!"</p><p>The others present at that table laughed but Tyrion doubted there was anything to be found funny about.</p><p>"Tell me, Tyrion Lannister, if I give your dwarf head to Daenerys Targaryen...do you think she will forgive me for having so much fun in her absence?"</p><p>This time the madman looked at him with sharp blue eyes that conveyed that behind the act of insanity there was much more vileness than his madness concealed.</p><p>"His grace can try, but Daenerys is not prone to negotiate with those she considers her enemies."</p><p>Thyssen kept icy eyes on Tyrion before placing them on the other guest who had a direct relationship with his person of interest.</p><p>"My friend Daario told me that your ill advice caused her to downfall in Westeros," he said while approaching his face to Tyrion. "Tell me, imp, are you planning a similar fate for this King?" ADVICE ME TO MY DEATH?"</p><p>Tyrion was startled but didn't look away from him or make a move to wipe the spittle that had landed on his face. From his father's subtle cruelty to the latent threat of Daenerys' fury, he had learned to deal with these sardonic characters long enough.</p><p>Thyssen happily retired back to his seat.</p><p>"I am not interested in your advice, dwarf. What I really want is the answer to a single question," he said then, "I want to know why the so-called mother of freedmen and underprivileged would burn a city that had fallen at her feet with surrender bells."</p><p>Unlike Jon and Illyrio, Tyrion did not feel the need to sweeten his words to make clear what he thought was true.</p><p>"Because like all of us, Daenerys is a player. She used her power to her advantage until she saw that the only thing that legitimized her to keep playing was at risk."</p><p>Thyssen scratched his chin with his dagger as he contemplated his response.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>When she thought of castles, the closest thing her mind imagined was the dark, dank hallways of Castle Black and Winterfell. She could never have imagined something as majestic as the white stone castle where the Dragon Queen led them in their first encounter with her enemies of skirts and colored beards. </p><p>"No killing yet," she had warned them before leaving for the agreed-upon destination. "I need to convince this man, not slaughter him."</p><p>"But he is your enemy–" someone tried to argue.</p><p>"My true enemy is far from here. I need allies not more enemies."</p><p>In this way they reached the castle of this man, who was called the Sealord. His defense was pity, they did not even take the life of any of them. Val wondered what the point of all armor was if they weren't going to be able to defend themselves properly.</p><p>While the Dragon Queen and her red witch locked themselves in a room to converse with the subject in question, they had free rein to take from that place what they wanted. Val found no satisfaction in taking loot so easily, so she just watched as her people took piece by piece of the marvels that filled this castle. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She ended up taking a medallion. Not because she found it pretty but because the warrior carved into it looked like Jarl. She was sitting in a lonely corner of the harbor watching the medallion and the sea when Daenerys appeared out of nowhere and sat next to her. </p><p>"It worked?" she asked her about the visit to this Sealord.</p><p>"Sort of," she replied, her gaze lost on the horizon. </p><p>"We could use other methods."</p><p>"No, not for now."</p><p>The dragon queen looked down at where her medallion hung. She recognized the resemblance immediately.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Why what?"</p><p>"Why you and Jarl pretended for that long?"</p><p>"Pretend?" Val huffed, "Just because we are not around circling the other like birds and popping children out of me doesn't mean its not true love."</p><p>"You killed people!"</p><p>"And? Haven't you?"</p><p>"You know what I mean."</p><p>"No, Dragon Queen, I think I don't."</p><p>"Why killing people to mating? I lived with people who considered it amusing to kill each other during weddings. I can understand better if you explain to me the point–"</p><p>Val let out a fit of laughter.</p><p>"Tell me, if I go and walk my arse in front of your man, wouldn't you do the same?"</p><p>"You'd be provoking me."</p><p>"Those men provoked Jarl."</p><p>"No, you lured them so he could kill them."</p><p>"They never said no," she answered with an impish smile, "Why does death scare you so much? Aren't you here to finish off your enemies?"</p><p>"Because I was killed!”</p><p>The smile faded from Val’s face. She never imagined that she would bring up that subject. Because she was still quite skeptical about it, she chose silence as an answer.</p><p>They remained in that state for long minutes until she finally dared to say, "I don't think I'm the person to talk about it. Unless you want me to tell you that whatever happened in the south between the two of you – I don't think Lord Crow ever thought it was right."</p><p>"It was. He had to stop me."</p><p>Val let out another small laugh, glancing at the Dragon Queen.</p><p>"Whatever you say," she said.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>Why does death scare you so much?</em> </p><p>After the conversation with Val, it was all she asked herself. Her mind returned to the only place from which she could not escape. What if it happened again? What if the only solution was to kill her?  No, he will never do it again, she was sure. But that assurance stemmed from the bond they shared: their children, and not from the certainty that their love was at that level of compromise. She laughed at herself realizing why Jon hadn't wanted her away that long. It was easy to fall into an endless cycle of self-torture and self-pity. </p><p>"I want to have control of all of North Essos," she announced Salladhor and Kinvara.</p><p>"Don't you think that's a little–?" the captain was saying but she hurried on.</p><p>"Ambitious? It's not. Someday I will control the whole continent," Daenerys said with a sudden renewed sense of confidence. "Let me put it this way. It was never in my plans to free slaves when I started doing so. I did it because it was an impulse and then I couldn't stop anymore. Once you know the injustices of the world you cannot stop looking at them."</p><p>She never explained it to the captain that what happened in King’s Landing was the doing of some form of magic she knew little about, so it did not surprise her when the man shot her a look filled with confusion and suspicion. <em>He believes me mad</em>, she thought. She believed the truth sounded worst than the wrong belief she did it on her own volition. <em>I am not the owner of my own mind</em>.</p><p>"Kinvara," she called to the priestess, who looked in her direction with attentive eyes. As in the past, she never questioned Daenerys’ plans. "The slaves of Volantis are ready to fight for their freedom?”</p><p>The servant of the red god only bowed in confirmation.</p><p>“Very well,” Dany twitched her lips in contemplation while looking at the map. “Captain Salladhor, we are not going to need any company of sellswords. Use the coin to buy information on the most powerful names that rule the Free Cities. Those who support King Freya in his conquest. I will tell the warriors and spearwives to escort you at all times.”</p><p>“Wa-wait, Dragon Queen,” he stuttered, “Weren't we going to get to Volantis?”</p><p>“Not we. Just me,” she confirmed.</p><p>“That’s not the plan we agreed upon with–”</p><p>"Jon's not here, Captain. I'm the one giving the orders. Otherwise, you can return to Hardhome. Is that clear?"</p><p>Daenerys did not wait for a reply to leave. Her fists snapped open and closed at her sides nervously.</p><p>Never again was she going to allow her battles to be fought by those who did not understand what she was fighting for. Remembering how her first campaign had started made her recall that feeling when she had no word about her fate. In a way, that was the reason she failed at Westeros. Her intention to bring freedom was not understood, neither by those who followed her nor by whom she wanted to liberate. Her naivete was to think that there were struggles she could share with people who did not understand it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Beyond the Wall</strong>. </p><p> </p><p>He lay on his back and looked at the ceiling. It costed a small fortune but the carved wood looked nicely done and it was prettier than the old hay roof. He took a deep breath once more, letting out the air as if frustrations could ease with it. Tree moons after Dany’s departure the children were still adjusting their lives to her sudden absence. Missella had returned to her silence vow, although not in an extreme way like the first time, while her brother could not stop screaming, protesting, and questioning why things were the way they were. Jon wondered the same. Dalya, on the other hand, had noticed and suffered at the beginning but unlike her siblings and father, the lack of reasons did not prevent her from moving on.</p><p>That same night he had dealt again with a huge tantrum, with platters thrown to the floor and cries under the table. The constant screaming and the lack of understanding with his children made him want to cry helplessly as if he himself was a child unable to understand what was happening around him.</p><p>It had been this way before they had met again with Dany, two years back in the time until everything found its way to the right place. Or so he thought. He never deceived himself into believing that the time would not come when she would finally leave him. As much as she loved him, there was something broken between them that was always going to make them unhappy with each other. A wish that things would have turned out differently.</p><p>In those days he had a recurring dream, where he and she were back on top of that hill where she sat while avoiding him. Every time he got close, Dany looked over her shoulder with eyes full of misery and unhappiness before throwing herself into the void.</p><p>
  <em>You know I am coming back? That I am not leaving you or the children?</em>
</p><p><em>But you are not staying either</em>, he wanted to say now that she was away.</p><p>The door to his room creaked open startling him. He raised his head to see Jorian waiting with a rueful look.</p><p>"Papa, are you already asleep?" he asked even though he saw Jon clearly awake.</p><p>Jon gave him a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes and extended his arm to invite him in. Jorian closed the door carefully and ran to climb onto the bed with him. Usually, he preferred not to let them get used to this pushover version of himself. Dany was the one who allowed them to sleep with her when he was away. However, he, too, was getting tired of his own rules.</p><p>"Papa?"</p><p>"Hmm?"</p><p>"Is Mama dead?"</p><p>Adrenaline rushed through his body as he heard his innocent little son ask that question. Jon propped himself up on his elbows.</p><p>"No!" He snapped back, immediately regretting it and easing his tone. "Who told you that?"</p><p>"Sygur's Mama is also<em> gone</em> and he said is because she died."</p><p>Until that moment it had not occurred to him that something like this could reach his ears through the stories of the other children. Yes, their settlement was full of children whose parents never returned.</p><p>"Your Mother is alive, Jorian," Jon reassured him, though it was a statement to himself as well. "She is traveling with Captain Salladhor, Val and Lady Kinvara, remember?"</p><p>"But why? why is she taking so long? I wanted to go with her!" </p><p>With low spirits, Jorian seemed tired of asking the same question without getting a satisfactory answer as Jon was of giving him the same responses. Jon sighed. </p><p>"Your Mother is helping people," he said, "people who can't help themselves."</p><p>"How?"</p><p>"Do you remember the bad people of your tales? like the king who wanted the night to reign in the tale of the winter king?"</p><p>"Is Mama fighting against the night king?" he asked with what seemed like a combination of verve and distress. Jon chuckled a little.</p><p>"No the night king exactly but people who are bad and want to hurt other people."</p><p>His brow furrowed as if he was mulling it over. Jon guessed that he was trying to figure out if the fact that his mother was fighting bad people like in his stories was a good thing or a bad thing.</p><p>"Why are you not with her?" then he made another question.</p><p>The complicated specifics of his question could be summed up in one simple reason, Jon deduced.</p><p>"Because someone had to take care of you and your sisters."</p><p>He started arching and scratching his eye.</p><p>"But who takes care of Mama?"</p><p>Again, Jorian's queries made a lump form in his throat. </p><p>"Mama takes care of herself," Jon replied, "She is strong and brave like the good people in your stories." And strong enough to not need me, he also thought for himself.</p><p>"I wish you had gone with her, Papa," he said yawning and nestling closer to his chest, slowly drifting off. </p><p><em>I wish the same</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (II)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p>This time she smiled as she hastily chased after the last of the men escaping through the gallery of another white stone castle, heading for a balcony. When he was cornered, the man flung himself across the railing into a long free fall. Val looked over the edge to see his body slammed to the ground. <em>What a coward</em>, she scoffed, wiping the sweat from her forehead without realizing that she only stained her face more with the remains of the blood of one of the guys she had chased before this one.</p><p>"That's it?" she asked the Captain when she went down the stairs to the entrance of the place. </p><p>"Easy, woman," he replied, "We are not even halfway through."</p><p>Val shrugged and continued scouring the castle - <em>mansion</em> - as Daenerys told her that they call them here. She had not seen her on nearly two moons since the black dragon returned. She had not brought them to the city of Volantis as she had originally promised, although she did bring treasures to silence the claims of her people in return. Val was the only one who felt a little bitter about not being able to explore further. </p><p>The hunting of enemies that she entrusted to them in her absence would have to suffice. Slavers, as she understood, who were hiding in Braavos believing that they would not be found here. Apparently she wanted dominance of this city. </p><p>She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and entered a room that seemed empty. Behind long, thick fabrics hanging from the ceiling, she saw the shape of a body. She approached cautiously and withdrew the fabrics, her knife in the air ready for the blow. However, she found a pair of huge dark eyes staring at her in horror. A girl.</p><p>Val swallowed hard, lowering her arm. She had never done it, although she knew the others did it.</p><p>She was not given to the words nor did she know if she could make herself understood with the girl, what she did know is that if the others found her, this child would not fare well.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Volantis</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>"You'll know when it's time," he heard Daario mutter to one of his men before he had noticed Tyrion's presence.</p><p>He did seek a glimpse of something that could bare Daario's mind, but he only found the same gruff man.</p><p>"The king requests our presence," Tyrion warned before he had questioned him. "There is news of our beautiful Dragon Queen."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Freya slammed his fist on the table and burst into mad laughter after revealing that her allies in Braavos had been massacred. There was no indication that it was Daenerys' work, but it was the most obvious conclusion they could reach. With this panorama, his allies began to scatter in fear of her retaliation and some slave's revolts stirred.</p><p>"She is no threat, your grace, for ours is the superiority on the battlefield," one Triarch argued or so Tyrion understood with the little knowledge he'd acquired of their language. </p><p>"Dwarf," Freya called out to him and Tyrion had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. "Explain to these fools what Daenerys Targaryen did to your filthy city."</p><p>Tyrion just followed the order and told them that once in the air with Drogon, Daenerys was unstoppable.</p><p>"Daenerys doesn't give a shit about your wooden soldiers on the field," Freya scoffed at the Triarch, who in response just lowered his eyes and nodded. "No. Magic can only be fought with magic. Isn't it, Karzic?"</p><p>"She has a weak spot, it just takes a good shot," the warlock replied in a hiss. "One good shot and she'll be within our hold."</p><p>Tyrion cleared his throat uncomfortably.</p><p>"I thought the ballistas-"</p><p>"He doesn't mean the ballistas, dwarf," Freya interrupted him.</p><p>He nodded and returned to his seat, intimidated by the gaze of the king and his infernal follower.</p><p>"Without questioning his majesty's strategy and...his ally's word, but Daenerys is going to expect such an attack," Daario interjected. </p><p>Freya nodded enthusiastically.</p><p>"Oh yes, she will be expecting anything from her enemy. What she will not be expecting is," and he looked between Daario and Tyrion, "Seeing you here beside me."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Kinvara smiled as the great onyx doors inside the temple opened to welcome them. She breathed in the strong scent of burnt incense and noted that the flames from the sconces were dimmed as she preferred them. She was at home.</p><p>They had broken into the city through the catacombs to circumvent the defenses around the city. Their enemies conspired inside their palaces without knowing of her presence within. </p><p>"Summon Lyrissos," she commanded one of the youngest servants. "And make the necessary arrangements for tonight we will honor R'hllor as his will is on its way."</p><p>She walked with the queen to her former chambers where she had resided with her son and daughter in the early stages after her resurrection. Daenerys paced the bedchamber with a smile that carried her children's memories signature, and when she came across with fine wool blanket she brought it up to her face to feel the reminiscences of the scent of her children.</p><p>"I do remember this. I used to wrap them together in this because they liked it that way," she said. </p><p>"You should take it home with you for when-" she was about to suggest what await her in the near future when the young servant returned to apprise them of the arrival of Lyrissos.</p><p>"Who is this person?" she questioned. </p><p>"What you need the most: a friend."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. So far from seeing home I stand out here alone.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this is what resulted from my best effort to rewrite what I lost. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>16.</strong>
</p><p><strong>So far from seeing home, I stand out here alone</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She took off the veil that hid her long silver hair to let it fall in gentle waves around her shoulders and down her back. Daenerys looked in the mirror and searched for all the blemishes on her face that lay bare the passage of time.</p><p><em>You are no longer a little girl, Daenerys. No longer only a young woman</em>, she told herself. <em>You are a mother and you are a wife. </em>This must be also for them as it was for her.</p><p>She doubted herself again when she began waving her hair into braids, remembering nothing but defeat since her life had ended. The woolen blanket that she saw through the looking mirror reminded her of her children and she decided to place three braids on the crown of her head to finally tie the rest of her hair into one. Three for their children. One for Jon. Clad in black breeches and the characteristic red cloak, she went to meet this person.</p><p>At the altar were Kinvara and her obedient devotee zealots, kneeling in front of a stone table that Daenerys knew very well, this time not with her body on top but with a goat whose blood spilled and fell like river streams. Nearby, at a prudent distance, loomed the figure a lone man. He was wearing a uniform and armor. </p><p>"May I introduce you, Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Mother of Dragons and Braker of Chains," Kinvara announced. </p><p>This man she supposed was Lyrissos turned around and faced her, revealing a comely face. He was tall and svelte, bronze skin, and green eyes that glisten with a bright halo. His hair was in a shade of silver that contrasted with his skin. Beautiful in an exotic fashion. </p><p>The man twisted his mouth into a smile.</p><p>"The tales tell she is dead," he spoke in a soft voice. </p><p>"Often tales elude the truth," was Daenerys' curt reply in contrast. </p><p>Lyrissos bowed hiding a smirk then he fell to his knee.</p><p>"My name is Lyrissos, your grace, and I was elected to spearhead the Fellowship of the Broken Collars."</p><p>Daenerys frowned and turned to look at Kinvara with a quizzical look. </p><p>"<em>Fellowship</em>?"</p><p>"We acted later," he explained behind her, making her return her attention to him. "We never reached Meereen. We belong here in Volantis, where we waited for your arrival with unending patience and, in our hearts, the latent heat that claims for freedom."</p><p>"You are not a slave," Daenerys pointed out,  "You are Old Blood."</p><p>It didn't take her long to realize it. His physical appearance was only one of the reasons that gave it away, his fluent Valyrian and skin without ink was another. He was Old Blood. </p><p>"As her grace but that didn't stop her, right?"</p><p>Dany swallowed hard and accepted he had a point, but still, she needed reassurance and learn of his intentions. So as the zealots returned to their service, she invited the man that claimed to be a friend to follow her to pace the hall. </p><p>"Are you a follower of the Red God?" she asked him.</p><p>He let out a little scoff and answered, "My faith resides in my principles, <em>most of the time</em>."</p><p>They crossed a ramp that led them to an external balcony overlooking the bridge. Daenerys leaned against the railing.</p><p>"And which principles are those?"</p><p>"Freedom, justice–"</p><p>"Justice is a pliable concept," she challenged him with an arched eyebrow.</p><p>"It is?"</p><p>She looked out of the corner of her eye and watched him smiling; an apparently innocent gesture.</p><p>She took a deep breath and continued her queries, "What else have you heard about me? What other tales?"</p><p>"There's one that tells a city burned under your wroth," he said, nor surprisingly.</p><p>"Do you believe it?"</p><p>"Power can be terrible," he said after a time.</p><p>She couldn’t help but scoff. She had said something similar to Jon a long time ago. The memory felt like ashes in her mouth.</p><p>"Why do you want to help me?” she questioned him, in a tone of voice that displayed uncertainty and distrust. “My knowledge is modest but I am aware that my purposes go against the interests of your people."</p><p>"I consider that the clash of two opposing forces, only results in fatality,” he explained, indifferent to Daenerys increasing doubt. "I understand and share the need to respond to the demand of the slaves. I also understand that systems cannot be changed overnight. It is always easier to win the war than to deal with its consequences."</p><p>She blinked away at feeling alluded to in that way. <em>I’ve never lived enough in a place to see the aftermath of the wars I fought</em>, she thought.</p><p>"When I left Essos to begin my campaign in Westeros...I left without laying the foundations of the new world I wanted to create," she recognized more in thought to herself that she said out loud.</p><p>"I beg to disagree; foundations are well laid. Otherwise, none of us would be here now." He came to place himself beside her, respectful of the distance. "Before you, slaves didn't even dare to think they were more than slaves. For someone like you to come through, the odds are about a million to one.”</p><p>“As are the odds against failure,” Daenerys retorted, squinting at him. “The Red Priestess called you are a friend.”</p><p>“Of your cause, I believe.”</p><p>She turned on her side to look him in the eye.</p><p>“Very well. If this is true, I want a demonstration of your loyalty.”</p><p>"Loyalty to you or loyalty to your cause?"</p><p>She cocked her head in surprise.</p><p>“Loyalty to me is loyalty to my cause.”</p><p>Lyrissos also turned and faced her, raising his chin equally firm.</p><p>“I cannot be loyal to you if your cause goes astray from what I believe is just,” he said, “Volantis is only the beginning. Fighting for justice it’s a never-ending task.”</p><p>Her lips twisted and she averted his gaze, turning again as she realized he had gained dominance of the conversation.</p><p>The last thing Dany would do was to make known her entire life was on another continent and that her fight in Essos would always be one notch below in her priorities, for in first place Jon and her children will always come. But to tell this was to prove herself deficient as a leader again, which at that point she was convinced she was.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He trotted cautiously and suspiciously behind Freya. The palaces within the black walls were majestic as well as dangerous for each corridor seemed to lead to a labyrinthine trek. </p><p>Freya stopped in front of two narrow and tall doors. He opened one and Tyrion could glimpse that on the other side there was something that amazed him as much as the effect of the powder.</p><p>"What is it?" he inquired carefully. </p><p>"This is...power, come to see it."</p><p>Tyrion heeded as he was in no position to object, passing beneath the arm that held the door open into the place that captivated the insane king.</p><p>"What do you see?" he asked from behind.</p><p>A chill went down his spine.</p><p>"It cannot be," he replied.</p><p>Freya laughed cruelly. </p><p>"Go ahead, dwarf," he instructed and closed the door to leave Tyrion alone within the place.</p><p>In addition to being trapped and without options, it was the call of this invisible force that pushed him deeper into the place, guiding him to a space he remembered only too well. </p><p>A faint light from the candles illuminated the room. In front of him was the same bed but it was empty when he knew it should be taken by the beautiful body of a small woman. </p><p>"If this is hell then I'm glad to find you here," said the voice that came from behind. The voice he couldn't get out of his mind. </p><p><em>Shae</em>.</p><p>Slowly, Tyrion turned around and found her. </p><p>She looked just as beautiful as the time he last met her before taking her life for her betrayal. </p><p>"You are not real," Tyrion told her almost like a plea. </p><p>"Oh, my lion." She squatted down and took a hand to his face. "I am more real than ever."</p><p>Tyrion shook his head while tears spread across his face. </p><p>"Look what you've done to yourself. Wrecked, poor creature," she chastised him while lying on the floor as they used to do in times when everything was simpler. "It seems survival does not bring you the satisfaction you thought will come. Tell me, my lion, what does it feel beating all the odds?"</p><p>"I don't understand," he replied, "Is this my punishment?"</p><p>"Punishment? I do not think so. The decision is yours, after all. You once told me that you were a slave to the truth and that was why you were so small...because the truth crushed you beneath its weight."</p><p>He sobbed. </p><p>"And what's the truth, Shae?"</p><p>She stopped smiling.</p><p>"I only did it because I thought your words were sincere."</p><p>"What words?"</p><p>He knew deep down what she meant to say.</p><p>"I was just a whore for you, Tyrion."</p><p>"No-"</p><p>"I was just a whore that got killed by the only man that I dared to love."</p><p>"You betrayed me!" he shouted at her.</p><p>"You betrayed me first!" she rebutted. </p><p>He made no sound. It was something he tried to not second thought, for the truth was always there, looming at one corner and waiting to assault him with its unveiling. </p><p>"Oh, women," Shae chanted, "We are born in a world of men. Even with the good ones, we are always running the risk to have our hearts wrecked and used as a weapon."       </p><p>"What is the truth, Shae?" he asked her, seeing her disappearing before his eyes. </p><p>"You are not a good man," he thought to hear her reply. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He trudged back to the meeting room where Freya lay waiting with an oddly serious face.</p><p>"And?"</p><p>Tyrion sighed. </p><p>"I can see its allure," he responded. </p><p>"You know what they say, the greater the heart the greater the pain. Few of us are lucky enough to find only darkness in there."</p><p>He took the place where he was indicated. On top of the table rested a flagon of wine that he would have liked to pour down his throat but he still had the taste of Shae's perfume permeating all his senses.</p><p>"I understand that your grace is going to use the enchanted chamber against Daenerys," Tyrion ventured. </p><p>Instead of providing the specifics of his plan, Freya stretched out on his chair and look over at Tyrion with a contemplative gaze.</p><p>"Tell me about the man who killed her," he demanded. </p><p>The least he wanted was to think back on Jon Snow. That lad he'd sort of coax into committing the same misdeed that Tyrion carried out before him: killing the woman he loved. Unlike him, Jon Snow was a good man though. </p><p><em>He got no other option</em>, Tyrion said to himself.</p><p>"He was a man of honor who found her crimes irredeemable," he answered. </p><p>"<em>How</em> he did it?"</p><p>He never had a chance to ask Jon the same question but the supposition was only one.  </p><p>"She loved him."</p><p>Freya guffawed. </p><p>"So love it's what killed her."</p><p>"Her <em>crimes</em> killed her."</p><p>"Don't fuck with me dwarf, if crimes could kill people none of us will be standing here right now. Karzic and his people have already taken her there. To the vision. She was younger and more naive but it worked pretty well," he made a pause and tilted his head, "Or almost," he added up. </p><p>"She never told me about it."</p><p>"We want to have them both there. The mother and the son. Dragon's minds are hard to control but less if there's a human mind attached to it." Freya spoke oddly lucid as if he had decided it was time for it. "Together they are powerful."</p><p>"Dangerous," he recalled. </p><p>"Powerful," the King insisted. The servants brought the meals and after taking the first bite of his, he finally revealed Tyrion's purpose there to him. "You...will be the light guiding her to the darkness."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"The moment she sees you, she will be unable to turn around."</p><p>"Even if at this point I don't care about my life anymore, your grace, how do you expect me to do such a job? She will be flying her dragon-"</p><p>"Do you like the sound of bells tolling?"</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Beyond the Wall</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>Today was one of those days where it seemed everything was going to be alright, though Jon knew it was just the temporary feeling of repose between one hard day and another. Even so, he embraced it.</p><p>Jorian crossed the field where the children were being instructed in the use of the sword to drink some water. After commenting very hastily that he and his best friend Sigurd had the advantage, he returned as quickly as he came. Jon didn't even know they were participating in round training, but he deemed it appropriate to instill in them a bit of a competitive spirit. </p><p>Dalya shifted on his lap and babbled nonsense excitedly while pointing at Jorian. She still didn't say more than a few loose syllables but had become very talkative as of late this moon. </p><p>Missella giggled and held her little sister's hand in hers.</p><p>"I think she wants a sword, Papa," she commented tongue in cheek.</p><p>"Aye, I think she does," he replied with a pleased smile at seeing his older daughter speaking her mind. "Don't you?" he asked to follow up the conversation, "You know you can go down there." </p><p>Unlike the North, in their settlement, they offered training to all children, no matter if they were boys or girls. So far Missella has been reluctant about it.</p><p>"Nope," she answered and shook her head of black-raven curly hair. Instead, she jumped off the bench where they were sitting watching the training, wiping the dirt off her rear with her palms. Then she made a silly face to make her sister laugh and finally asked Jon, "Can we walk?"</p><p>"Of course," he said to her. </p><p>Father and daughters made their way to wander the rest of the training camp. Since everyone was expected to serve as warriors, it was one of the most crowded places on the settlement.</p><p>The fortifications had been completed a little before Dany's departure, so now, almost six moons later, it was a sight they were used to. Still, Missella resented not being able to go to the forest as freely as before.</p><p>“Where is Ghost?” she asked him.</p><p>“Do you want me to call him?” Jon answered.</p><p>“Can he bring his babies?”</p><p>Jon sighed with his eyes focused on Dalya giving tottering steps in front of them, the strands of her silver hair shone brighter with the sunlight. He hesitated before giving an answer, knowing all too well it was a whole different matter to take those pups from a very alive she-wolf.</p><p>"<em>Pa!</em>" Dalya shouted in her sharp little voice. She was showing them with her outstretched hand toward the place where another group of people was training. This time archers. </p><p>"Do you want to go and see?" Jon suggested to Missella, who just shrugged and walked past him in the direction of the training camp. </p><p>Ever since they had implemented Dany's ideas for the organization of the settlement, everything seemed to have its place and space. While the trading took place primarily in Hardhome, Wolves' Den served better as a garrison for their warriors. It was the most protected area and therefore far enough out of reach of any threat from the kingdoms. Any threat to his family. </p><p>"Jon!"</p><p>"King Crow!"</p><p>Jon responded to the various forms of greetings with a nod. Missella, Dalya, and him stationed nearby enough to observe but at a distance that would not make them a target for the arrows. This field belonged mainly to less tough but more cunning and quick men and women.  The pace and precision were important here and thus celebrated each time one of them managed to hit the target in less time. </p><p>"Oh," Missella let out when she saw a young warrior lose several arrows in a row on the training board. The exclamation was loud enough for the young woman to turn to look at her.</p><p>"Do you want to try it, bantling?" </p><p>Although she was no longer strictly reluctant, Missella moved a little behind her father's leg to shield herself from the challenging gaze of this one who invited her. Jon waited a little for an answer until he squatted down to speak to her.</p><p>"She is speaking to you. Do you remember what Mama says about being kind and respond?" Missella's violet eyes stare longly at the girl in front of her. Jon also directed his stare at her. "She is just timid," he apologized. </p><p>"She is quiet, that's what the best of us are made of," this one replied, all the while Dalya, on the contrary to her sister, did not stop letting out loud giggles that drew attention to then. "You are not doing it that well," the warrior girl jested at the fuss created by his younger daughter. </p><p>She walked over to where arrows were piled up and broke two of them at the feathered fletching. She came back and hand one to Dalya (who accepted gladly) and another one to Missella (who accepted after a moment of hesitation). </p><p>"What do we say, Missella?" Jon reminded her in the same tone Daenerys would make the question.</p><p>"Thank you," she whispered, smoothing with her fingers the long feathers. </p><p>"Thank you..." he also made to thanks the girl but didn't know here name. </p><p>"I am Dalra, Lord Crow," she told him before turning around and returning to her training. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He heard someone say that if you couldn't beat your enemies it was better to join their side than to die trying to fight a losing war. For Jon that was a cowardly and dishonest thought...for the Jon who had not lost everything by acting like a dishonest coward. As he lay limp in bed staring at the ceiling and his whole body numb from his children's little bodies covering him, Jon thought that this battle particularly was no longer intended to be fought.</p><p>Jorian began to snore in his ear so he moved him on his side so that his mouth was on the other side. A few minutes later, placing him in that position earned him a kick in the ribs.</p><p><em>How did Dany do this on her own for so long?</em> He thought. He couldn't help but wince at the image of her taking care of two babes after everything she had lost. Each time he returned to those ramblings, he could less believe that he was at this point now, raising those two children plus one, together.</p><p><em>Together</em>.</p><p><em>I can't do this on my own, Dany</em>.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Daenerys (XXX)</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Volantis</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>Lyrissos took her to the place where this supposed fellowship met to plan the details of the rebellion that was already boiling in the streets of the city, in <em>his</em> words. The word Mhysa resonated in voices that sounded uncomfortable to her for some reason, and she did her best to show herself whole and ready to help them even though the warmth and affection she felt before was allayed by the haze of emotions clouding her mind.</p><p>Lyrissos not surprisingly turned out to be an elephant and therefore a devotee of trade who explained to her that he was advocating an orderly post-rebellion transition. </p><p>She also met the generals who would lead the rebel forces. They already had a strategy in advance and had only been waiting for her arrival for they knew that Freya had involved dark magic on his side.</p><p>They were outnumbered by far, thanks to the inclusion of two armies that Freya provided -his own and the Second Sons commanded by Daario Naharis.</p><p>At hearing this, Dany took a deep breath and closed her eyes wailing. <em>Betrayed</em>. What a surprise.</p><p>"This confrontation has only one destiny: the bloodshed. I think we can achieve a milder result if her Grace allows us a chance on the field," one general, Aryrio was his name, said. </p><p>They only needed her to win the war in a single battle. That was all. It should have made her feel relieved, after all the risk was less for her and Drogon and sooner she would return home.</p><p><em>Home</em>. Jon, Missella, Jorian and Dalya. </p><p>She returned to her quarters at the temple, lay down on her bed hugging her children's blanket hoping thus to feel closer to them.</p><p><em>I can't</em>, she thought as the sheets soaked up her tears. <em>I cannot do this alone</em>.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She reunited with Drogon at a point far from the city of Volantis. It had been a while since her arrival in the city and she intended to finish this matter as soon as possible to return to Braavos. If Daenerys could describe her current situation in one word, <em>chaos</em> would be that word.</p><p>Drogon lowered his giant snout so she could pet him. His huge amber eyes looked at her knowingly. Mother and son united in the same feeling: loneliness. However, Daenerys' heart shattered at the thought that her relief would come with Drogon's bereavement.</p><p>A tear slid down her cheek. <em>Why am I always deprived of the things I love</em>, she asked herself. <em>Why</em> <em>I can't be free to love</em>. </p><p>She placed a kiss on the burning scales of her son - her only dragon son, and took the sky to finish this bloody affair. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The question of whether she would do again what she did at King's Landing never came up in the various meetings they had with the fellowship. Maybe it was intimidation or just disbelief, but the matter was never put on the table.</p><p><em>I'd rather be seen a tyrant than a puppet</em>, Daenerys thought, determined not to reveal what really happened. But what if they used her again for that?</p><p><em>Your heart is a weapon. Don't let it be used against you</em>, is all Kinvara said to her when she raised her concern.</p><p>Beneath her were rows of soldiers, trebuchets, ballistas and all kinds of weaponry that fell unusable once Drogon lashed out with his fire across the outskirts of the city. External defenses, knocked down.</p><p>This however was not a siege. She did not come with an army behind her back as in the past. Now she was charging at the city's defenses to allow people inside to take over. </p><p>As she watched everything from above, she thought about the past. She blinked and saw soldiers in red cloaks and people in robes of different colors fleeing what appeared to be rivers of blood...rivers of fire.</p><p>She was startled and began to hyperventilate. She heard a raven bellow and she moaned in fear.</p><p><em>Fear</em>.</p><p>Burn them all!</p><p>Burn them all!</p><p>Burn them all!</p><p><em>I had to get out of here</em>.</p><p>Daenerys was scared and sure it was happening again...that invisible force creeping into her head. As she prepared to retreat and let the people of Volantis determine its fate on their own, the stormy sound of a single bell tolling echoed in her head.</p><p>She stared straight ahead trying to focus her gaze. Beneath her, Dragon trembled with his mind full of uncertainty as he felt that bond that united them transforming into the strings of a puppet.</p><p>In the distance she saw with horror the small figure of Tyrion Lannister.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"That's it, that's it...THAT'S IT!" </p><p>It was as if the man had his cock in a whore's mouth. Freya had returned to be the insane person he was and watched Daenerys decimate his armies as if it were the most obscene act.</p><p>Like the time he saw her turn King's Landing to ashes, Tyrion could only watch her from a distance as a point above the dragon. A red point this time. However, this time she limited herself to attacking the outskirts of the city, passing over it only to shorten the distance between one wall and another. Beneath them, an army he could not identify began to bathe the streets with blood.</p><p>Tyrion was perching on a wall above Freya and his warlocks. He was wearing armor in a strange twist of fate. In his hand he carried a maso, which, at the indication of his captors, had to strike against the gigantic bell behind him.</p><p>"Now, dwarf! Bring me my Dragon Queen!" Freya commanded.</p><p>Tyrion looked over to where Drogon and Daenerys lay apparently at rest. They did not seem involved in the action carried out on the streets.</p><p>"Dwarf, ring the damn bell or I'm cutting your-"</p><p>By the time the insane king tried to finish his sentence Tyrion had pound once.</p><p>Twice.</p><p>Thrice. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon had told her how it felt to get into Ghost's mind. It was something the Starks could do, even Sansa Stark although she had apparently forgotten that part of her identity. She had come to feel jealous of that ability because her connection with her children did not go to such extremes. Yes, she could feel what they were feeling and communicate what she wanted them to do but never take over their mind and make it her own.</p><p>Dragons are not slaves.</p><p>The moment it happened, it is like those dreams where it seems she is doing something but in reality the body lies inert.  Rather than being in a bed, Dany felt herself on Drogon's back waiting for the generals' signal on the battlefield. Because that was what was agreed and that was what her rational mind told her she was doing. But it was not. </p><p>Body and mind had dispossessed each other like two lovers ending their love, only one was in control of what was happening.</p><p>Not even the wind crashing into her face nor the figure of Tyrion becoming lighter in front of her eyes made her wake up.</p><p>A sharp pain takes her out of that state and she screams in horror as I feel it spread all over her back,  Drogon below her letting out a screech. Daenerys came back to herself to feel the damp heat on her back that she immediately recognized. She was bleeding out.</p><p>She needed to get off Drogon, she needed to land in a safe place for both of them.</p><p><em>Please no</em>, she begged any god who was listening to her. <em>I need to go back to my children. I need to go back to Jon</em>.</p><p>This time it was not an invisible force that was dragging her out of her mind but the dizziness that came with the loss of blood and heat. She had felt it so many times that she was already more than familiar with the sensation.</p><p>Drogon landed on the roof of a building, and she slid forcelessly out of him, falling onto the hard ground that hit her face. </p><p>At first, she felt the heat of the dancing flames around her. Drogon chased away anyone who dared to approach. But after a while, something stopped him and Daenerys just felt cold.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>There was no way he would have thought the plan would actually work. In front of them, the Warlocks surrounded Drogon and put chains on him that Daario couldn't explain where they came from. Daenerys was lying at the height of the dragon's belly that did everything to protect his smaller mother.</p><p>One of those beings signaled him to go ahead and take the body of Daenerys. Alive she was, she has to.</p><p>"<em>You are going to put her at my feet yourself, and only then will I be sure of your loyalty</em>," Freya had said that time.</p><p>"<em>There are pieces of the future that are granted to me. And what I see is that you are going to have Daenerys in your arms again</em>," the crippled king had promised him.</p><p>If he heed the words of the first king, Daario would be choosing the best path. He would be free and he would be lucky. He would no longer have a constant threat of death chasing him. However, all he wanted was Daenerys.</p><p>The moment he holds the body of his little queen, he realizes that the decision had already been made a long time ago. </p><p>Daario looked at his second-in-command and nodded, running at a healthy distance.</p><p>The same ballista with which they had shot Dany out of the sky, this time they aimed at the Warlock that controlled the rest. It wasn't enough to finish him off but it was enough for the chains holding Drogon to disappear so the beast would be unleashed.</p><p>Daario looked down at the beautiful face of his queen. </p><p><em>"You're home"</em>, he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "You're home."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I suck at writing short.</p><p>SORRY the cliffhanger but is it really? LOL promise you next chapter Dany and Jon will be reunited and maybeee things will get a little bit savage. Or maybe I will dedicate next chapter to the whole northern plot with Sansa. (Here I just described Jon with his children but dude was doing a lot of stuff meanwhile)</p><p> </p><p>I don't know, ya' tell me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Plans and schemes, hopes, and fears. Dreams I've denied for all these years.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am sorry to keep pushing the reunion but there is a certain event that I am trying to get to and I just cannot find a way to connect it all yet. I don't want to keep making you wait for a new update, so here you go.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>17</strong>.</p><p>
  <strong>Plans and schemes, hopes, and fears.</strong>
  <br/>
  <strong>Dreams I've denied for all these years.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>White Harbor </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"As always, your grace, your sound judgment has proven to be what the North has long needed. In that regard, you would honor your father,” Lord Manderly complimented her as they walked through the battlements of New Castle.</p><p>Sansa hummed in agreement but declined to comment on it. <em>Honor? What is honor good for?</em> She asked herself. Ned Stark's honor left him headless and Sansa at the mercy of lions and traitors. Intelligence and cunning were traits that he, Robb, and Jon needed. Mayhaps a little more ambition. Otherwise, her family would not have been almost destroyed today.</p><p>What brought her here.</p><p>"May I ask you, though, how did her grace convince her cousin and uncle to coordinate efforts to this naval blockade?"</p><p>Sansa stopped to watch the ships on the dock preparing to set sail. Flags of House Stark, Arryn, and Tully waved high in the cloudy and stormy sky.</p><p>"We are all aware that Bran in the south is just a pretense. A veneer of normality as the kingdoms find a way to be the independent kingdoms they once were. With the demands of the northernmost kingdoms neglected, it is normal that we should resort to alliances."</p><p><em>Alliances</em>. The word tasted bitter in her mouth.</p><p>As if intruding his filthy hands on her mind, it appeared humming along the battlements, her betrothed. Lord Harrold Hardyng. </p><p>"My beautiful queen, here you are!" he said coming striding towards them. "My lord," he nodded at Lord Manderly, who returned the gesture. "I come to tell you that everything is underway."</p><p>"The sooner we deal with this situation, the better," Lord Manderly celebrated. </p><p>Sansa walked away from the conversation of the two men and turned to face the harbor again, imagining what Jon's next move might be once those ships blocked the entrance to Hardhome.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The carriage was tediously slow and she could no longer resist hearing the absurd stories of Lord Harrold's exploits. If there was one thing Sansa had grown accustomed to, it was silence.</p><p>"Tell me again, my Queen, why is that you get into this strife with Jon Snow? Rumor has it he was the most honorable man in all Westeros.” Harry paused to tilt his head. "Until he betrayed the Dragon Queen, of course," he added.</p><p>"Betray the Dragon Queen was the last honorable thing that my brother did."</p><p>"Your <em>brother</em>?"</p><p>Sansa took a deep breath, folding her hands in her lap. The rumor of Jon's true identity spread through the Seven Kingdoms.</p><p>"Force of custom, my Lord." She smiled coldly. "I'm not as good as him forgetting my blood ties. Jon may have once seen me and my siblings as his family. But he had lived far too long with savages and outlaws. His infatuation with Daenerys Targaryen and her subsequent demise made him fall for the madness that sadly runs through his blood. His actions are the actions of a derided man."  She turned to look out the window. Nature grew gloomier as they got closer to Winterfell.  "I have to stop him before it stains his own integrity."</p><p>Her Lord betrothed stroked her leg suggestively before giving her a gentle squeeze. She bit her lip to hide the pain from the touch.</p><p>"We will stop him, my Queen," he promised, with a look on his face that perhaps was trying to convince her of his goodwill. She swallowed hard and ignored him.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p><strong>Winterfell</strong> </p><p> </p><p>"My cousin and uncle are more than excited about this alliance," Sansa was commenting to Master Wolkan as they made their way through the outer hall. She had let Lord Hardyng settle in what would be his bedchamber. "Bran is neglecting affairs in the South and trade across the continent is virtually paralyzed. The kingdoms fail to get credit from the banks in Essos. Therewith, through the Northern Kingdom, the Vale, and the Riverlands will seek better opportunities. Of course, I have communicated this to my brother, but so far I have received no response." </p><p>Not even from Tyrion, who had already sent messages with subtle suggestions of not to meddle further in the affairs of the six kingdoms that Sansa has been ignoring one by one.</p><p>"Of course, to appease the claims of our vassals, certain concessions had to be made in the name of good faith. </p><p>Lord Hardyng has much or almost the same influence in the Vale as my cousin. Probably when the matter of heirs is secured, I will send him back home to keep an eye on Sweet Robyn-," Sansa stopped and squinted at the courtyard, noticing that there were far fewer people than when she had left. "My aunt Lisa's madness seems to outlive through him like a ghost."</p><p>"I did not expect that your majesty would agree to a marriage alliance again," Maester Wolkan reflected. </p><p>"I did not become queen just to wear a crown and then die out, leaving the Crown without heirs," she answered, outraged. </p><p>"If I'm honest, I thought you were going to resort to other methods."</p><p>"Other methods? Like the one that put my brother in the throne of the Six Kingdoms?" she mocked. "Not. The North belongs to my family. To the Starks. We were independent for thousands of years with a Stark sitting on the throne. My family has not yet seen its end."</p><p>The old man seemed to want to protest and that didn't surprise Sansa, after all, he had been there to witness every torturous minute of her marriage to Ramsey. She felt the need to bring him some peace of mind.</p><p>"I know Lord Hardyng from my days at the Eyrie, Maester Wolkan. Moreover, we'll make good use of those resources of our neighbors." She sighed and with a bitter tone added, "We are going to need it if that loan is to be paid."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>When she looked at herself in the mirror, Sansa realized that the fragile porcelain skin of her face was broken on the sides and tinted with a grayish color. She called herself stupid for missing the southern indulgences. A fleeting memory hit her; Margaery Tyrell inviting her to her chambers in Red Keep. Sharing time with other ladies and learning about the paradise that was Highgarden -she felt like a real princess during that time. A princess locked in the castle, waiting for her brave brother to come and rescue her.</p><p>Nonsense it was.</p><p>As her new husband spoke behind her, preparing for the inevitable, Sansa finished another cup of that Maester Wolkan brew that brought relief to her body and mind. Harry made a bawdy comment that was intended to pass as charming words but she simply ignored it. Once she felt her eyelids heavy and her body weakening, she walked to the bed, taking off her robe before lying on it.</p><p>"Just do what you have to do," she instructed her husband, closing her eyes and letting her mind adrift.</p><p>Nothing could be worse than Ramsey.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Beyond the Wall</strong>
</p><p>"Seven hells!" he cursed when a splinter slipped into the skin under his fingernail. Jon was carving arrows from sticks for Missella's training before the careful eyes of his three children.</p><p>"Seven hells!" blurted Jorian. </p><p>Missella giggled knowing that those were forbidden words but did not attempt to follow her brother's mischief. </p><p>"Do not say that," Jon warned. Light tone awash with tenderness and humor. His son has found pleasure in defiance. </p><p>"Seven hells! seven hells! <em>seven hells</em>!" Jorian repeated. </p><p>Initially, he had been frankly mystified every time Daenerys allowed Jorian to challenge her without further consequences. When she finally gave Jon the chance to come up with his own rules, he had realized that Jorian's anger only propelled his infant stubbornness. </p><p>Tearing off the splinter and throwing it away, Jon looked at his son sharply.</p><p>"Do you want me to forbid your training?" he asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow. </p><p>Without erasing the giddy smile from his face, Jorian whispered "no" and shook his silver-curled head from side to side. Jon suppressed his own desire to smile. </p><p>He paid no mind to his wound and covered his hands again with leather gloves. He stood up and his children followed suit, even little Dalya who clumped hurriedly to grab his hand. </p><p>He took a moment to observe the three of them. He had no words to explain how happy the mere sight of them made him.</p><p>“Okay,” Jon nodded and said, to himself and for them. “Let’s go.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>“Watch out, bantling. Only the first two or three fingers touch the string. One here,” Dalra made Missella put her first finger above the arrow and the other two below it. “You hold your thumb back out of the way.”</p><p>Dalra continued to explain the specifics of archery to Missella and Jorian, the latter less interested than the first. At first, Jon came to training with his older daughter with the intention of being himself instructing her, but he soon discovered that it was better to leave her in the hands of someone who would outdo him in it. Furthermore, with Dalya almost always following him and wrapping herself on his leg, it was difficult to execute the techniques himself.</p><p>Jorian made several unsuccessful attempts, leaving him somewhat upset. Missella less focused on hitting the target remained stoically trying.</p><p>“Isn’t the target too close?” Jon asked Dalra. The girl turned around with a furrowed brow feigning annoyance and motioning for him to make silence.</p><p>Jon threw up his hands in apology.</p><p>After a while, she sat down on the bench and explained, “A big, close target will make it easier for them to succeed, and will encourage them to keep trying. Ya’ know, build their confidence. It is the most important thing for young warriors.”</p><p>Jon thought of Winterfell. Long ago days where he and Robb helped with Bran and Rickon's instruction. He does not remember that Ser Rodrick was particularly a man of attentive gestures who wanted to help them build their confidence.</p><p>“Also, they are children of legends. They will want to be better than you someday,” she added.</p><p>He looked over at her and then to them. <em>Someday they will learn of what I did and they will hate me</em>, he thought. He watched Missella focus as she measured the height of the bow and Jorian giving her indications that she was probably not listening to. His heart squeezed just thinking about losing them.</p><p>Someone called out to him and Jon lost his train of thought, turning his face in the direction of the call.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"What's going on?" Jon asked, entering the cabin where the chieftain of Hardhome resided. Several sailors and Tormund were gathered at a table, engrossed in the matter for which they had requested his presence. Because he did not want to leave his children alone, Jon had hand our the affairs of settlements' organization, seeing that the free folk seemed to do well on their own.</p><p>Some of the ships that left a week ago came back, was their explanation. They have a blockade. </p><p>"A blockade?" he asked puzzled.</p><p>"They will only allow them to cross if they return to White Harbor. The sailors said a lot of shit I didn't understand," Tormund complained. </p><p>As usual, they all looked at Jon hoping he would give them an answer. Jon took a deep breath and analyzed the situation, quickly arriving at one conclusion.</p><p>"The sails?" he asked. </p><p>"Your family's. And a bird and a fish."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Volantis</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She watched everything happen before her stilled eyes without flinching for a second. After all, what had to happen would happen no matter how hard one tried to stop it.</p><p>After obtaining what he was looking for, Kinvara and her guards set off in search of the queen. They found her unconscious in the arms of a man who seemed satisfied and victorious with his feat, like a hunter proud of his game.</p><p>"The woman you carry on your arms does not belong to you and will never be," she stated out loud for all to hear clearly, especially him.</p><p>Daario Naharis was at a dangerously close distance to disappear so as not to leave a trace. Kinvara glanced at him with a lethal look to made it clear that there was no further way to go. Whatever his naive mind had imagined, it would never be. </p><p>The man refused her warning and tried to move forward, arousing the wrath of her guards who pointed their spears in his direction. His men imitated the gesture. </p><p>"I'm going to keep her safe," he excused himself, "She's hurt, I have to take her to my camp so healers could tend to her."</p><p>"Taken she will be, only with me. Now hand her over at one of my guards, and wait for her to recover to decide your fate."</p><p>"What if I refuse, witch?"</p><p>"Look around you," she invited him, spreading her arms clad in long sleeves. Around them were not only Fiery Hand's guards but the inhabitants of Volantis, ready to sacrifice themselves for the honor of defending Daenerys Targaryen. Some of them pulled out their teeth and hissed at him. </p><p>Daario threw at Kinvara a lethal gaze. She returned a pleasing smile.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Although superficial, the wound on Daenerys' back was long and had split the skin. She would not be able to move in several days, the priestess concluded after attending to her. Perhaps she would get a quicker result by putting one of her ointments on it. </p><p>When Kinvara turned to look for the jars containing the balms, she heard the queen's soft moan.</p><p>"Easy, Daenerys," she reassured her as she tried to move. Daenerys hersed as she tried to braze herself in her arms. </p><p>"What happened? And Drogon? Where's my son?"</p><p>Those were the same words she had ever said to Kinvara, several years ago when she had brought her back to this world.</p><p>"Your son is safe. We had to send him away to be safe, as the tumult on the streets stops," she explained.</p><p>Daenerys let out a sigh and laid her head back on the bed. Kinvara heard her sobbing. She knew her well enough to know that it was not a cry of physical pain but of a disturbed mind that was exhausted.</p><p>The priestess produced a sample of the Warlocks' poison from her pocket.</p><p>"You are not the only one the poison has affected. The entire city fell into chaos."</p><p>Daenerys turned her face flushed from crying. </p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"This," Kinvara shows her the vial, "It was in the air. They scattered it through the city's ducts. When your dragon flew low enough, one of their projectiles brushed your back."</p><p>She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Instead, she hid her face again. </p><p>Kinvara did not have the ability to read people's thoughts but Daenerys' were easy to guess. She sat next to the bed, waiting for her to finish releasing all her frustration to say, "Your family is not your weakness. Why are you treating them such? <em>They must be your strength</em>."</p><p>Kinvara listened as Daenerys' weeping calmed as she drifted off back into sleep.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (III)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Braavos</strong>
</p><p>After finishing supper, Val stole food from the great table and headed towards the room where she put the child. Everyone there knew that if anyone dared to enter, Val would not hesitate to cut their throats. For the same reason, she was the only one who could feed the girl. </p><p>Val threw the plate in the middle of the floor and lay down on the large bed to wait for her to come out of her hiding place. </p><p>Opening the door of a piece of furniture, the child observed the food that had been arranged for her. Val relaxed, seeing that there was no need to force her out. </p><p>Over the days it had become easier. The others had told her that she should throw the girl to her fate on the streets, but she did not want to do it. Not yet. There was something fascinating about this girl. In the colour of her eyes. Val had never seen such a...particular beauty.</p><p>"She's a servant," Captain Saan had said.</p><p>"The free folk has no servants," she had replied. "So she is no more a servant." </p><p>Val watched as the girl crawled over to the plate of food, taking it quickly and hiding back. She smiled and leaned back.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXII)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Volantis</strong>
</p><p>The moment she heard his pathetic plea the pain in her back disappeared to give way to a blind fury that quickened her breathing. Reminiscences of a rage that she contained inside, allaying her judgment.</p><p>Daario lay on the ground with his head slightly raised, his eyes focused on hers.</p><p>"Let me expla–" he tried to say but was interrupted when the guards holding him down lifted him up in a quick motion.</p><p>"Daario Naharis," Daenerys called his name, "I, Daenerys Targaryen..."</p><p>"Daenerys, please! Listen to me!" he bawled but it was pointless, all Daenerys saw was a traitor and a coward.</p><p>"...sentence you to die."</p><p>The earth shook as Drogon landed behind her, leaving out a powerful screech of warning to anyone who dared to hurt his mother again. Her former lover's eyes widened in horror.</p><p>"I HAVE NO OPTION!" he shouted, "I have no option! You let me back in Meereen with nothing but an empty promise to someday return!”</p><p>"You betrayed me," Daenerys snapped, walking over him and staring into his dark eyes. “I entrusted you with my most precious legacy.”</p><p>"I did. I did,” he was consistent enough to admit, “Do you think it was fair? I swore loyalty to you, not to your freedmen. And you were dead!”</p><p>Drogon behind her was breathing hard, inviting her to give him the final order and let him feast on the traitor's flesh.</p><p>However, Daario's words fulfilled their purpose and resonated in her mind.</p><p>"Do you regret it?" she asked him.</p><p>"No, I was saving my life."</p><p>Daenerys scoffed.</p><p>"Drogon–"</p><p>“Wait! Please, listen to me. I beg you.” His knees buckled and he fell to the ground. At that moment, Daenerys saw the red priestess Kinvara and Lyrissos approach where the exchange was taking place. “The moment I knew you were alive, I went to Westeros. The shitty city they call their capital was unprotected and I was going to take it and slaughter the usurpers of your crown. I was ready to march to that frozen land where your assassin was sent. Drag him to see everyone he loves die before his eyes and then give him a slow, painful death. I swear.”</p><p>Daario was not aware that his empty oath and pitiful intention only infuriated her. The thought of him even trying to put a hand on Jon sent a rush of adrenaline that echoed in Drogon's wrathful mood through their bond.</p><p>"The crippled king convinced me to go back and trade with Freya. He knew you were coming back." Daario let out a sound that was like a sob. Daenerys had never seen him cry or anything close to that. This time it was no exception. "You were alive. All I could think about was how to regain your confidence."</p><p>She wrinkled her nose in displeasure.</p><p>“You were right next to my enemies, plotting against me as all of them have done. You could prove yourself different and you lost your chance the moment you let Freya put collars back on my people’s neck.”</p><p>"Do you think it would have made any difference if I had stayed in Meereen to even try to stop Freya? Have you seen that man and his aiders?"</p><p>Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement from where Kinvara and Lyrissos stood, watching in silence. Freya had already escaped from the city, taking Tyrion with him.</p><p>“Freya wanted me to take you to the Black Walls. He wanted me and Tyrion to do it. He was betting that your anger was going to beat your good judgment.” As with King's Landing, he omitted to say but Daenerys knew he implied it. “It was thanks to me he couldn't catch you. The Second Sons, we were always on your side.”</p><p>“Except when they weren´t,” she snarled, losing patience. “I don't care about your far-fetched pretensions. You betrayed me and I'm sick of experiencing treason over and over and over again.” She stepped back, looking down on him.</p><p>She heard the sound of a throat clearing. She looked up at Lyrissos who intended to say something.</p><p>“What?” was the way she invited him to speak.</p><p>“Perhaps Captain Daario has information that may be of help to us, Your Grace. Freya is still alive."</p><p>“Freya is gone. It doesn’t matter.”</p><p>“Freya fled,” he corrected, “does not mean that this is the end of the fight.”</p><p>"Neither means that I'm going to allow a traitor, friend of my enemy in my ranks. I did it once, and I won't do it again."</p><p>"Daenerys," Daario called her almost in a whisper, "Of all them, I was who loved you just the way you were. And you know if I had been there, I never would have let that murder get to you. <em>Please</em>.”</p><p>The mention of Jon’s betrayal stirred up those same upheld emotions she’s been fighting to keep buried deep down.</p><p>All this situation returned her to a state of aggressiveness that she had calmed down in the years that she stayed away from the war as if this was decisive for her queen persona. A necessary relentlessness that kept her alive before, and which she abandoned in the last days of her previous life.</p><p>“I love you,” Daario insisted, “Even when you left me, I wished you the best. And when I heard of your passing I wept for you, wishing that you had never left in the first place.”</p><p>She recalled the conversation with Tyrion after saying goodbye to him, where she had confessed how devoid of any relevant sentiment she felt. It made Daenerys wondered if it wasn’t a cry for help at the time.<em> I just wanted to get over it</em>, she had told him back then. A person with no feelings and only one goal.</p><p>The wound on her back suddenly started throbbing, eliciting a groan of pain from her. She just wanted to get over it.</p><p>“Very well,” she said, still looking at him with contempt. “Get him in a dungeon and I shall decide his fate another day.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After sending Daario back to the dungeons, Daenerys moved with Lyrissos and the other members of the Fellowship to the Black Walls. There their guards brought a group of people, kneeling and gagged. They shuffled through the outskirts of the walls like slaves in a market.</p><p>"What is this?" Dany asks though she has a slight suspicion.</p><p>"This," Lyrissos points to a man in quirky clothing, "is a member of the triad. The other two fled with Freya. ”</p><p>"And what are we going to achieve by having them here?"</p><p>“No use. So his peers have left him. " Lyrissos smiles sardonically. "The rest, allies, and family."</p><p>"Family?" </p><p>No one answered her question. </p><p>She licked her lips, swallowed hard, and looked straight ahead. Her hands opened and closed into fists.</p><p>"Very well," she said, finding herself alone in that choice. Involuntarily, Tyrion's words came back to her mind, the ones he said to her after executing the Tarlys, father, and son.</p><p>Tyrion was a traitor, she reminded herself,  and his ill advice guided a lethal blow to her campaign in Westeros.</p><p>
  <em>Stop doubting yourself. </em>
</p><p>"Him and his inner circle..." she indicated, folding her hands behind her back. "His wife and issue…let them think for a few days in the dungeons.”</p><p><br/>To those she indicated, Lyrissos's guards dragged them to an empty field. Drogon landed there, letting out a roar of excitement.</p><p>Daenerys heard them cry and scream for mercy, but all she could think of at the time was Tyrion. </p><p>"<em>Dracarys</em>," she commanded Drogon, with the image of that traitor in her mind.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>They weren't the only ones she burned that day, nor were that day the only one where she was asked to do it. Each execution took her back to the past...to King's Landing. The memories of that day, memories that she lacked, came to her in dreams (nightmares) to torment her.</p><p>The smell of burning flesh had permeated her senses. The only thing that brought her back to reality was the blanket of her children, so she slept hugging it every night.</p><p>Freya had fled back to Slaver's Bay or Qarth, they weren't really sure. The moment of her capture served for the opposing army to hit back and with it, buy some time for a hasty retreat from her enemies.</p><p>
  <em>Burn them all. </em>
</p><p>Before King's Landing, she would have flown with Drogon and would have done that, but that incident and this one had only managed to prove once again that she was not ready yet.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The days passed and the turmoil in Volantis had subsided with the slow but progressive transition towards a new order and government, one more just and that was ready to grant freedom to slaves.</p><p>Daenerys was initially puzzled when Lyrissos informed her that the slaves would become contract-paid servants.</p><p>"That won't work," she portended, "I did not come to discuss different ways of putting chains."</p><p>Lyrissos gave her one of his severe looks.</p><p>"You came to right what you did wrong last time."</p><p>Daenerys wanted to take him with Drogon. However, she listened to his explanation out of respect. If anything, the man seemed to be in control of the situation and his words were true and blunt, never pretending to sweeten her ears to please her.</p><p>"Changes could not happen overnight. Otherwise, things tend to go back to their original place. Besides, it is my understanding, her grace didn't exactly come to rule," he argued, to which she felt exposed...again.</p><p>As she was still reluctant, he finally urged her to search the streets for slaves and discuss this matter with them. Daenerys did it and found that, although it was not what they wanted, they were satisfied since those bloodiest masters had already fled the city and only remained those with a good predisposition to the changes."</p><p>It was not what she expected or wanted but she would have to settle. Lyrissos was right when he said that she did not come to rule. That scenario was impossible when her home was elsewhere.</p><p>This made her wonder once what precisely she had come to do.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>When Kinvara informed her of the news of the blockade in Hardhome, her heart raced and it was at that moment that she almost took Drogon and forgot everything to return to her children. The priestess had to give her a special brew to calm her nerves, telling her that if she still wanted to do that when her mind was cold, then no one would stop her.</p><p>Once she returned to herself, Daenerys asked Kinvara to find a way to communicate with Jon. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Two moons later, she decided what to do with Daario and the Second Sons.</p><p>Her skin itched when she saw him, a similar feeling to when she saw Jon again. Except that with Daario, there was not that ardor in her chest that was the pain of losing him.</p><p>He, on the contrary, looked rattled, claiming over and over again his eternal loyalty to her and his true love.</p><p><em>Vulnerable and pathetic</em>, she thought. At the same time, she felt sorry. Grief for the person she believed he was.</p><p>She looked at him with disdain.</p><p>"Bring me Slaver's Bay again, and you'll have my forgiveness."</p><p>That's the ultimatum she gives him, before turning on her heel and leaving him, hoping she would never see him again. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>
  <strong>Braavos</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Back in Braavos, she had encountered several surprises, some more enjoyable than others. </p><p>She moved back into the Sealord's mansion, seeing that a new company of mercenaries was shining in his entrance. With a tight smile, Daenerys questioned him about it, to which the man replied that it was at her service and not his.</p><p>It had not been her initial intention to exercise de facto control over Braavos but rather, a necessary course of action, as Captain Saan had told her. Being one of the most important merchant cities in the west, it not only offered incredible control over the surrounding territories but was also closer to Hardhome...and home.</p><p>Daenerys rushed off the sellswords to Pentos. Freya had only occupied the city as he prepared his armies for Volantis, with the aid of the three southern slave cities.</p><p>Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys would have to wait, she told herself. First, she was going to secure Pentos through Braavos.</p><p>Then it came the time to deal with the Iron Bank, which turned out to be a more complex task than she had expected.</p><p>Through an emissary, whoever had mastery of the institution had made it clear to Daenerys what her fate would be if she forced their hand. In other circumstances, she would have chosen fire and blood. But the emissary was, not surprisingly, a faceless man.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XIII)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Qarth</strong>
</p><p><em>Your smile is so beautiful</em>, he said in thought as he watched Shae pacing the room, watching him with that mischievous look he loved so much.</p><p>"Dwarf!"</p><p><em>Fuck you, mad shit</em>, Tyrion said again in his mind.</p><p>"Your Grace," instead, he said out loud.</p><p>Freya guffawed.</p><p>"Are you seeing your whore again?"</p><p>"No, your grace," he replied absently, still lost in those dark eyes of her. "I am more here than ever."</p><p>After the unsuccessful attempt to capture Daenerys and Daario Naharis's very obvious betrayal, Tyrion had taken it for granted that his usefulness at the Mad Essosi King's court had expired. Going home was not an option, but not being dead right now had surprised him greatly. </p><p>Settled in his palace in Qarth, after those early days of frenzy and madness, the warlocks managed to calm the man down by promising him that this was just the beginning. That Daenerys Targaryen had been proven vulnerable.</p><p>Then something else came up.</p><p>"I want her for me. She's going to be mine."</p><p>Another one, Tyrion thought. Another who falls victim to the exceptional beauty of the Dragon Queen. <em>Join the ranks</em>.</p><p>"Liberate all the slaves! Kill all her enemies. I don't care! I want Daenerys Targaryen to be mine!" he had cried out as a child would cry for a toy.</p><p>"I know! The dwarf's head...send her the dwarf's head!"</p><p>The Warlocks saved his life in a twist of fate. It was not in the plans of those beings to ally with Daenerys, no. They wanted their revenge for her offense many years ago.</p><p><em>Your mission is to convince him is in everyone’s best interest to end Daenerys and Drogon</em>. <em>Fail to accomplish this, and the chain of events will be inevitable. You are very good at what you do, I trust you</em>.</p><p>Bran's words echoed in his memory.</p><p>"Daenerys will never accept you," Tyrion told him in a fit of bravery or impulsiveness. "She has loved only one. Whatever you can offer her...she will take it and then, when you think you are tasting the glory, fire and blood will burn in your mouth."</p><p>From that day on, Freya has locked Tyrion in a room next to Shae's ghost almost every day to ruin his mind so he can later entertain himself, watching as his sanity slide out of him.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Jon (XXXI)</strong>  </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Beyond The Wall</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His first instinct was to prepare his warriors to set off for her kingdom, but as soon as he returned to Wolves Den and found his three children sleeping soundly in his bed, Jon threw himself into a chair and began to cry.</p><p>Anger, frustration, and uneasiness at being cornered by someone he once loved and for whom he had hurt -killed-the person he loved most in this world, unconsciously almost giving up to this. </p><p>It was the first time in a long he had allowed himself a  moment of weakness.</p><p>Jon sat there long hours watching them sleep while he vowed over and over again that he would do everything possible to protect them, even promising that someday he would take Winterfell from Sansa to give it to them.</p><p>Then a strange impulse led him to kneel down in front of the fire and watch the flames crack. At first, he thought it was his mind. He began to see images of a fight - a battle - in the North, in the ice and snow. He saw a cloudy sky and then a ship with a proud sail of a Kraken.</p><p><em>Greyjoy</em>.</p><p><br/>***</p><p> </p><p>"We are not going to attack Sansa Stark's kingdom," Jon told Tormund and Jeff the next day. They were gathered in the Great Hall.</p><p>"That because...?" The dark-haired man protested.</p><p>"Because that is what she is looking for. The Free Folk will remember the battle in the North, the knights who appeared at the last moment to define the defeat of the Boltons." Jon rubbed the tip of his nose, hating to recall that day. <em>I should have anticipated Sansa's intentions from that moment</em>. "The Knights of the Vale are on her side. Who knows how many southern men she has at his disposal...this - a reaction - is exactly what she wants."</p><p>"So what will we do, little crow? We need to move those boats, otherwise, we will have to risk moving further south of The Gift."</p><p>"That is not all," Jarl continued, "How are our people going to return from the cities across the sea? How is your dragon queen to return, Crow?"</p><p>Jon swallowed hard looking at that the map outstretched in front of him.</p><p>"With alliances."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. I'll find my way home.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>~ Reunion chapter ~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>18.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> I'll find my way home.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Pyke, Iron Islands</strong>.</p><p>He has believed to see enough of castles in the Northern kingdom but when Jarl glimpses beyond the thick haze the castle southrons called "Pyke" he is surprised by how much he does not know about this continent. Finally, their boat reached the shores where they were stood a group of men dressed in long dark leather coats, iron breastplates on their chests, and helmets covering their faces. Their faces were harsh and unkind, but so were theirs. There was no formal greeting as they were accustomed to in Winterfell and rather by intuition everything was carried out more or less in order.</p><p>It was a long walk -climbing, rather- until reaching the tower where the ruler of these lands sat. Everything was fucking damp and musty, moistening his skin underneath the heavy furs. The ground was slippery and some of the men who accompanied him cursed each time they succumbed or saw how high they were. Himself could see in the distance the large rocks that jutted out the sea as pikes and that would surely finish off the body before it could reach said sea.</p><p>Certainly, had Jarl not known in advance about the woman, he had been waiting for a man sitting on the throne. Instead, it did not come as a surprise to see the woman Crow spoke of sitting with her legs stretched out wide open in a position far away from the meekness of southron women, looking at him as if they were nothing but filth. He liked this, nonetheless. </p><p>"Look what we have here. The hunting season has brought fresh game from the North to our shores," was the first comment made by the woman, Yara Greyjoy was her name according to Jon.</p><p>Her men burst out laughing.</p><p>Jarl was not a man given to conventions or jokes. This would be the first time that he would try to mediate between his people and people from the south. In other circumstances, he would jump forward to cut the woman's neck.</p><p>"Do you speak or what?"</p><p>"You are Yara Greyjoy," Jarl said.</p><p>the woman made an exaggerated gesture with her hands.</p><p>"Is that all you've came to my Island? <em>To ask my name?</em>"</p><p>"Your aid," he clarified. Jarl looked around, clearing his throat. "We share…<em>an enemy</em>."</p><p>With this, it seemed her attention boosted. She stretched up on her throne and then and propped her elbows on her knees.</p><p>"The dead have returned?" she asked, brow furrowed.</p><p>"The red-haired queen."</p><p>Whispers of awe broke out in the hall whilst the woman named Yara huffed a breath.</p><p>"The bitch in the North whose name is Stark, I know,” she said, “She is fighting a war against wildlings. What a petty fight to get in. But she is a petty queen as well. As much as I despised the girl, I have my reasons for refraining as long as she doesn't poke her nose into the affairs of my lands."</p><p>This woman was the sister of a man Jon knew, that Jarl was aware of, and that said man had sacrificed his life defending those who now ruled the kingdoms within the wall. The red-haired queen and the crippled boy.</p><p><em>So, there’s only one chance with her</em>, Jon had said.</p><p>"We have something you will want," Jarl finally offered.</p><p>She scoffed again, but just right there his men stalked into the room to bring up the offer, who came with his head covered. </p><p>"Who's this?"</p><p>Jarl tore the hood off the prisoner's head. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Winterfell.</strong>
</p><p>"I cannot! It's like ravish a corpse!"</p><p>Those were the words of her lord husband the day he abandoned all attempts to sire an heir in her. At the time, Sansa did not react, finding herself enmeshed in a sweet dream without pain or burden. The next day, she tried to reconcile their differences and try to obtain the fruit of his entrails at once by going to his bedchamber, only to find him buried inside one of her maids.</p><p>To say she was hurt was to dramatize, but she certainly wanted to put her cold hands on her husband's neck. She didn't care about Harry. What mattered for Sansa was the reason why she had entered into this marriage alliance: his seed and his influence on The Vale.</p><p>“<em>My love for my queen is as pure as it can be but hers is as cold and cruel as the land she rules</em>,” he said.</p><p>Of course, she knew that a man like him could not keep himself for one woman, much less one who showed little interest in him. Men like him needed to be worshipped. There was something of Joffrey's narcissism in him. Another bit of Petyr's. </p><p>She finally gave in for the sake of her kingdom and because it was her duty as Queen. How many things had she already done in the name of the North to back off now? <em>No</em>, she said to herself. She was the only one who could go on and fight for her family's name. She owed them to her father, her brothers, her sister, and her mother.</p><p>Might she was the lone wolf but she would not die.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XIV)</strong>
</p><p>
  <b>Qarth.</b>
</p><p><em>What do you mean when you say I'm not a good man? I mean yes. I have made severe mistakes. But my intentions were always good</em>. <em>Fine, yes. I have had my share of ambitions like every man alive but I felt guilty when the consequences arrived. Shae, please. Answer to me. I need to know. No, don't go. Do not leave me.</em></p><p>He pleaded and pleaded but as almost always she giggled and hid somewhere where he couldn't get to.</p><p>"Dwarf, I need your advice."</p><p>Tyrion cursed and sighed when he heard the insane king speak to him. Or maybe it wasn't? His own mind was so hurt that he believed that sometimes everything around him was just a product of his damaged psyche.  Something he came to understand about Thyssen Freya is that the man was a dangerous experiment of the Warlocks as well. Someone with the right name and position that fell into their haunted hands.</p><p>At that moment, both men were lying on the marble floor of the balcony facing the sea.</p><p>"For what I am useful to your highness," he encouraged him to start speaking.</p><p>"The man who enamoured the dragon queen, what was he like?"</p><p><em>Oh, Jon Snow</em>, Tyrion thought. Who would have thought that that little bastard he met on a freezing night in the North was going to make it that far.</p><p>"It would be easier for me to tell you who Daenerys Targaryen is and why she tends to love men who consider themselves heroes."</p><p>Thyssen snorted.</p><p>"She did not love the Sellsword. Right now, he must be in the stomach of her beast."</p><p>Of that Tyrion was more than sure. Daario Naharis was a fool for gambling on the love of a demented woman like Daenerys. Not that she was not an indulgent person - he himself had known her mercy over and over again - but, under the circumstances, Tyrion did not believe that Daenerys had patience left to deal with any traitor. </p><p>"His Grace is right. Jon Snow didn't want her so she loved him. Or still loves him, if the poor bastard is still alive wherever he is."</p><p>"I don't think there is a man who can not love her."</p><p>Tyrion looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He couldn't contradict him because he felt that way himself, though far less intense than the alienated king.</p><p>"Jon Snow was <em>is</em> not like any other."</p><p>With his knife in his hand dancing to the beat of a nervous trembling of his body, the man pondered Tyrion's responses.</p><p>"What if I bring her the head of that traitor?"</p><p>"She rather kill you." Tyrion rubbed his eyes.  "Your Grace, let me be honest with you. Don't go down that path. Do what your...<em>allies</em> here in Qarth ask of you and I promise that once this matter is settled and she returns to where she belongs, that is, in a grave, then we can talk about starting a new era of prosperity and mutual understanding."</p><p>"Do not tell me what to do!" the insane one yelled, throwing himself at Tyrion with the knife severing the skin of his face. Tyrion felt blood trickle down his cheeks.</p><p>Once the king had finished carving another scar on his face, he stepped aside and even with the bloody knife, he threw a little of the powder on the floor and sniffed it.</p><p>"I know what I have to do," he heard him say, rising from the ground and running towards the palace that he lived in with enthusiasm.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Beyond the Wall</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>The little silver girl as she was named in Wolves Den laughed out loud as he squeezed her tender tummy with his hand. She became more and more like her dragon mama each day, and since she and the Little Crow shared blood, it amazed Tormund how well the whole thing turned out for them. Among his people, children born to these unions were looked upon with apprehension and believed to be weakened, sick things, which these three were far from being.</p><p>Tormund felt a blow to the nape.</p><p>"Hey crone, stop tickling her like that, she just ate and I don't want to be cleaning her arse again," complained her daughter Munda, who was tending to her own children plus Jorian and Missella. Tormund replied with a laugh, reminding when she was this little in his grip.</p><p>"She is special. She doesn't give anyone else but her Papa these smiles!" Tormund said.</p><p>More than three moons ago Jon was gone and getting the children to smile in the absence of their two parents was a more difficult task than slay giants. </p><p>Little Missella reached out to mimic the tickling on her sister's tummy, but this time the silver-haired girl whimpered, leaving the older girl sad. </p><p>"She wants Papa," she said in a thin voice. "Is it long before they return?"</p><p>Tormund and Munda looked at each other in bewilderment. It was normal for men and women of their people to leave, never to return, leaving their children behind. For obvious reasons, with these children everything was different.</p><p>Before either of them could answer, one of Munda's children, Bjorell, said, "Maybe they went looking for the big black dragon!"</p><p>Jorian and Missella's faces wheeled off to the older boy. </p><p>"Big black dragon?" Jorian asked in a confused tone. "What is that?"</p><p>"You don't know?" Gragard, his other grandchild, asked in astonishment, "But your Mama is the Dragon Queen!"</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXIII) </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Braavos</strong>
</p><p><em>The thirty-day </em> <em>of the twelfth moon of the 309th year after Aegon conquest,</em></p><p>
  <em>I can see some betterment in the children's behavior towards their father. Jorian is naturally curious, asking him about the wonders he wishes to know.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Missella comes across more cautious and prefers to observe from the distance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I have no doubt that Jon has loved them from the first moment he saw them. In furtherance of any parental relationship,  I decided to put aside my misgivings and allow him the place that is owed to him. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The fourteenth day of the second moon of the 310th year after Aegon conquest,</em>
</p><p><em>Missella has touched Jon's hair today, leaving him in an ecstatic state. </em> <em>I think she did this because I tell her that she has it that way because she is similar to her father and not like mine and Jorian's.</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The sixth day of the twelfth moon of the 310th year after Aegon conquest,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The children have noticed my swollen belly. "Mama is chubby" were Jorian's words. "It is because she has a baby inside" their father replied. Missella asked if I swallowed it and why I would do that. She seemed truly disturbed until I explained that their father and I had made a baby who will be a sister or brother to both of them. How? They kept repeating every time we tried to answer all their questions.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The tenth day of the sixth moon of the 311th year after Aegon conquest, </em>
</p><p><em>Dalya is becoming more beautiful every day, but today particularly, that beauty burst into something else when she laughed for the first time. </em> <em>She looks like me but is mostly a serious one, saving her smile for special occasions as her father does. In fact, all of her smiles are to him. </em></p><p> </p><p>Daenerys caught a tear before it slid down her cheek. At the beginning she has used this to keep track of her own thoughts, having felt so alien to her own mind when she woke up from death. Over time and the growth of the twins also became a way to capture their lives and their changes. These writings were her memories. Reading them helped her not to forget who she was. Each time she did it, the image of her family became clearer in her mind instead of blurring out as time tended to do.</p><p>She rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into the small chest she carried with her everywhere. Over half a year has passed since she came to Essos. A tender and fragile stability had settled in Volantis as she loomed around the Free Cities letting the world know she was back but returning did not come without its disadvantages and its share of problems. Her worn-out image and mishaps had encouraged the many enemies she reaped to continue trying to placate her once and for all.</p><p>Having Braavos and Volantis in her grip was that boost she mentioned to Jon that she needed to regain meaningful power to start a new campaign. The first of these cities, still a little resentful of her presence, raise too many cavils for Daenerys to say that she had complete control over her. Attending to the fate of those who collaborated with Freya and against her, the Sealord did everything in his power to fulfill her demands. At least as far as these demands did not collide with the interests of the Iron Bank.</p><p>This happened when Daenerys suggested blocking the arrival of ships from the North and The Vale, in retaliation for blocking the passage to Hardhome. The Sealord apologized to her, but the Iron Bank had made a significant investment in the Northern business to allow the intrusion. When she was about to fly there, Salladhor had stopped her by telling her that the Bank was not going to tolerate their investment was robbed.</p><p>That only left Daenerys with the option of waiting Jon had understood her message and that his actions bore the fruits she expected. </p><p>The sound of a growl brings her out of her thoughts and back to reality. In the same inner garden where Daenerys was resting, Val and the child girl who had, in her own words, <em>stolen</em>, were rolling around on the floor while she taught her how to fight. </p><p>"<em>You can't steal a child</em>," was the warning Dany gave the wildling woman when she found out that she brought her from one of the "lootings". However, the girl was a servant with no family. The other option was to just leave her on the streets on her own. </p><p>
  <em>"Kalea," Val replied, "Her name is Kalea."</em>
</p><p>Dany looked where they were. Kalea growled and snarled imitating Val as she urged him to bring out her inner beast. The girl did not call Val "Mama" but they acted that way and Dany knew deep down Val wanted her that way. </p><p><em>Why Val and Jarl don't have children</em>, she had once asked Jon. It was not he who gave the answer but Munda. Val had been attacked by a wight when she carried Jarl's child in her womb. The rest was history and she more than anyone could understand. </p><p>"Dragon Queen," called Fel, one of the wildling warriors. "There is someone asking to see you at the entrance."</p><p>Dany frowned. She had not expected to receive anyone that day and all the people she could hope to receive were very far away.</p><p>"This person has a name?" she asked him.</p><p>"Yara Greyjoy."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Daenerys was amazed at how pleasant and unworried had the free folk remained in the fringes of the Sealord's palace. It was most likely the mild weather, the luxuries and the carefree of a life provided with basic necessity. She could not wait to return home to continue improving the lives of her people. </p><p>Her people, she laughed at herself in her mind. </p><p>She followed Fel to the meeting room where she asked to receive Yara Greyjoy. Two other warriors stood at the door, guarding it. Dany dismissed them and entered into the room. </p><p>Right there, facing away from her, was the same dark-haired woman that was Yara Greyjoy, who turned around and started at the sight of her.</p><p>"One would think that with that motto of yours, the Greyjoys, you would be less likely to be surprised by the appearance of a dead person, right?" Dany teased her. </p><p>Yara's mouth was half open in surprise but she quickly smiled and her stare darkened.</p><p>"Your Grace," Yara greeted her. "It was my understanding that a coward had taken your life."</p><p>She ignored that sting in her heart that felt every time someone mentioned that event to her. Instead, Dany tilted her head and gave her a tight smile.</p><p>"Believe me, Yara, when I say Jon Snow is anything but a coward."</p><p>"How? How did this happen?"</p><p>"Do you believe in the power of the Gods?"</p><p>"As long as it suits the facts," she replied, tilting her head.</p><p>Daenerys nodded and looked into her eyes when she explained, "Well, the fact is I died and I was brought back. You can name this entity whatever you want to call him. The Priests, they call it Lord of Light, or R'hllor." She glided through the room until she was at the desk. "Come, take a sit," she offered her the opposite chair.</p><p>"So, you're back," Yara said, accepting the chair. "I was told you were...collecting debts."</p><p>Dany cocked her head from side to side, pondering.</p><p>"I like to believe that I understand justice," she said.</p><p>"That means that those who betrayed you in Westeros will get what they deserve." Yara smiled at that conclusion. Dany did not deny it. "If I can be useful to you for that, I am at your disposal."</p><p>"<em>But</em>," Dany added and raised and eyebrow.</p><p>"But the Iron Islands no longer submit to any yoke, neither dragons, nor stags, nor wolves."</p><p>"Nor ravens?"</p><p>"Least of all ravens. That farce we put on at King's Landing was a silent and mutual agreement so that each kingdom could continue their own. Dorne is almost totally independent. Westerlands, those poor wretches are broken by now and along with The Reach they exploit the resources of Riverlands and The Vale as much as they can with the excuse of taking care of the Realm. The crippled boy and his sister the bitch queen are going to end up in a puddle of their own blood or in a pyke on any of these days. We do not care as long as they do not interfere in our affairs, although I doubt that they can even consider it given their pity situation."</p><p>"And me?"</p><p>"And you."</p><p>"There must be a reason why you support me first and now you are willing to break faith," Daenerys warned.</p><p>"I will not break faith with you. As I told you, if vengeance is what you want, with much pleasure I will help you. But Her Grace must remember I got trapped by my uncle-"</p><p>"I killed your uncle."</p><p>"-and if it wasn't for my brother Theon, I would've died, forgotten on his ship."</p><p>She lamented again for her past mistakes. She blinked down unable to look her in the eye.</p><p>"I must apologize to you for that. I prioritized the fight in the North," Daenerys said. She cleared her throat and added, "I prioritized the fight for the living."</p><p>Yara scoffed.</p><p>"And how that ended for you? How following the advice of the imp and the bald eunuch resulted for you and for us? Or do you forget that my fleet went to Dorne unprotected when you had three dragons and a full, unscathed armada? Lady Olenna perished in her home! Ellaria and her daughters-"</p><p>"Yara. Please, stop."</p><p>"<em>I respect you</em>. What you did at King's Landing ... I don't care in the least. They deserved it," she shrugged it off,  "What bothers me is that having had it all, you have wasted it by hearing the wrong advice. You should have burned King's Landing the very first moment you set a foot in Westeros."</p><p>All those things were always going through Dany's mind but she used to push them far away for fear of staining the simplicity of her new life. Or her old life?</p><p>"If I were to ask your advice right now, what would you tell me to do?" Daenerys then asked.</p><p>At that moment the doors of the audience chamber opened and she heard Yara laughed sardonically. The ironborn woman stood up when the figure of a man in chains was dragged into the room. Dany's heart skipped a beat as she realized who it was.</p><p>"Here is my first suggestion, your Grace," Yara said with a grin on her face as she grabbed Jon's hair and pushed him to the ground. Daenerys's jaw clenched.</p><p>"This is my gift for taking care of Euron. We are even."</p><p>Jon fell to his knees and Daenerys immediately circled the desk, facing him. With a glance, he told her that everything was fine but she needed to touch him and see that nothing was missing and that nothing had been done to him. Then, unable to resist any longer, she bent down to cradle his face. They both smiled in recognition and affection before she shifted to an expression of fear and horror, asking him,</p><p>"Who did you leave the kids with?"</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>King's Landing.</strong>
</p><p>"We have a problem with Dorne," he announced in front of his Small Council that day.</p><p>"We have a problem in every kingdom," replied the Master of Coin.</p><p>What Bronn said was true. In recent moons, the restrictions on the iron bank's refinancing plan had resented the lords of the six kingdoms. Two of them, Riverlands and The Vale had decided to ally with Sansa to block entry to Hardhome. </p><p>A representative from each kingdom arrived at King's Landing, but with an army as demoralized as theirs, what opposition could they exert from the Crown? </p><p><em>"It is not in the Realm's interests to begin a conflict with the lands beyond the wall,"</em> he had warned the emissaries. <em>"It will only lead to lasting consequences."</em></p><p>Nor was it in the interests of those kingdoms to obey a king who could not even strengthen his authority in King's Landing. He was aware that to his subjects he was only a decorative figure. A veil that simulated an order that did not exist. And Bran knew that forcing the contrary could lead to ruinous consequences, far from the plans in his mind. So, he let it be.</p><p>"<em>His grace should allow me some of the crown money and with one single Sellsword company, I can bring you back those two kingdoms. We will bring an heir from each kingdom to King's Landing as hostages</em>," suggested Bronn, who in those days was a Master of War, better than anything else.</p><p><em>"The king cannot oppose his own sister!"</em> Ser Brienne objected.</p><p>
  <em>"Then she shouldn't interfere with the affairs of the six kingdoms. The North shouldn't even be an independent kingdom to begin with. Whose idea was that?"</em>
</p><p>The North did not matter now to him, because that river would find its mouth on its own. Right now in Dorne, although not a rebellion was brewing like in Westerlands or The Reach, an idea was born in the restlessness mind of a young princess. Plans that could not interfere in the moving order of things for which action was necessary in this case.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Arianne (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sunspear, Dorne.</strong>
</p><p>The princess ran her fingers across the surface of the map spread out on the table, outlining the edges up, through The Vale, The Neck, the Northern Kingdom, The Wall, and <em>Beyond</em>. Her other hand was busy bringing cherries to her mouth, which she pinched with her teeth to feel its sour taste burst in her mouth. With each smooth movement, the chains that decorated her attire clinked.</p><p>"Tell me more about this Jon Snow," she requested to the man who lay half-naked on the other side of the room, still trying to catch his breath. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, that was the event I wanted to get to lol. It seemed simple in my notes: </p><p>- An alliance between the North and two southern kingdoms to block Hardhome and provoke the wrath of Jon. Jon realizes what Sansa is trying and through a message from Dany in the flames, he decides to form an alliance with Yara Greyjoy and the free folk<br/>making her believe that they will hand Jon over in return. Yara reaches Daenerys in Braavos with a gift: Jon. </p><p>In between, I accidentally came up with a whole plot with Sansa and Harry. Besides that, I began to elaborate more on Dany's stay in Essos. Small plot points that evolved into subplots.</p><p>Welcome Arianne Martell to this story. Yes this one is the one from the books.</p><p>On top of that, Taylor's latest album depressed me as fuck. Thank you for your patience.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. And the darkness still has work to do.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did you know that the show mentions that Trystane was in fact Doran's youngest son? Alluding to his, um, other children. Well although it sounds strange here, I included Quentyn and Arianne. Let's suppose those two were on vacation or something while Ellaria and the Sand Snakes sparked a coup in their kingdom. Quentyn here is older than Arianne for plot reasons. This is a crack-fic so I won't dwell on details so much.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>19.</strong>
</p><p><strong>And the darkness still has work to do</strong>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Yara (I)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Somewhere, Narrow Sea.</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>She waddled down the cells, swaying with the movement of the waves and her own drunken state. A storm had made them deviate the course and now their arrival at the ports of Braavos would take more time than anticipated. She sipped the remaining ale from her wineskin and continued down until she reached the cells. Her boots dive into the water that entered this area. Sitting there with his legs up on the cot was the bloody Jon Snow. Even in his misaligned appearance, he made too of a beauty for a male. It made her wonder how a woman like Daenerys Targaryen could lose her mind (and her life) for him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He from the shadows looked at her with that solemn look that Theon once told her about.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Not bad for a bastard. Seditious and greedy creatures, longing for what they shouldn't have," Yara spat from her place, barely sitting on a bench she found rocking from the movement of the ship. "How long did you think the whole act of the wildling king was going to last? Wildlings aren't savages for nothing. They do not know of orders or kings. They do not get along with authority."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She thought he was not going to answer because for a long moment they fell into a rumbling silence.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Are the Ironborn that different?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yara scoffed and drank from her wineskin, finding it already empty.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"The truth is, it even seems that we are distant relatives. We also plunder. We chose our kings. We hate northerners." She squinted at Jon Snow before focusing her gaze on a spot on the ceiling. "We both hate kinslayers."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The bastard didn't flinch at her comment and that only made her angrier.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Did you know she is alive? Your beautiful aunt."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I do," he replies.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I heard a few moons ago that she was in Volantis. It seems a slaver king wants to usurp her legacy. I wonder why something so insignificant can concern her when she still has unfinished business here." She swallowed and felt her throat dry. "My brother Theon told me that you two were going to become king and queen of the Seven Kingdoms, eventually. He told me that you had fallen in love with her." She laughed bitterly. "But it was a lie. Beneath all that crap of honor and duty that the Starks boast so much about is an ambitious bastard who put his two siblings on the throne at the expense of Daenerys."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"If you're so sure of that, then tell me why I'm at war with my cousin Sansa?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His tone did not go unnoticed when the red queen entered the conversation.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You expected sweet Sansa to honor your agreement with the wildlings. You know, that's where you, the Starks, fail. Expecting the others to reciprocate your honor. There is no honor in murdering your queen, Jon Snow. Why would you wait for your cute cousin to respect a group of wildlings? Why would you expect those wildlings to respect your authority when you are not even one of them to begin with?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They were silent again, until he said in an earnest voice, "I am not a Stark."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No, you're not. Which makes everything worse, because you fucked and killed your aunt."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She waited for him to say something about it but he didn't. As Theon said, Jon was a man of few words.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Between the haze of confusion and anger, she thought for a moment that perhaps he hadn't even killed her. That was the reason why she wasn't going to kill him yet. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I am going to surrender you to her to return a favor. I do not want her and her dragon to appear in the Iron Islands to claim my debt to her," Yara found herself explaining. "And maybe if everything they say is true, then it will be an act of retributive justice, Jon Snow. So, you can see that I too have honor." She stood up, ready to retire before grinning in his direction and adding, "And perhaps in passing, I will teach you how to properly fuck a queen."</em>
</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p>Yara blinked a few times and then rolled her eyes realizing what was obvious from the scene before her eyes. Daenerys clung to Jon Snow in a protective hug and ordered in a shrill tone to releasing him immediately. Yara, having foreseen this outcome, looked towards her men and motioned for them to obey the dragon queen.</p><p><em>What a pathetic aftermath</em>, she thought, throwing herself back into her seat.</p><p>The mention of <em>the kids</em> was not lost on her but she decided to wait for an explanation instead of asking questions.</p><p><em>After all, Theon was right to point out that they were in love</em>.</p><p>As the commotion flared around her, Yara reached for a jug of wine from the desk which she challenged herself to drink to the last drop.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"They are fine. They are fine," he replied quickly as Daenerys pushed the loosen strands of his hair back. He took a long moment to etch her image back into his mind. Although her face was scarred with worry and fear, she looked so beautiful that all he wanted to do right now was kiss her. He swallowed hard, feeling his throat dry. "Dalya looks so much like you," he said out loud in a thought.</p><p>The mention of their youngest daughter caused tears to start falling one after another from her eyes. She closed the distance between them and kissed him deeply.</p><p>After ordering his release, she helped him up as guards – warriors – engaged in a deadly stare duel with Yara Greyjoy's guards. The latter simply went back to her seat and had a jug of wine, telling her men to obey Dany.</p><p>After that, a succession of events followed which he did not pay too much attention to. His eyes are still on his wife. Her long waves of silver hair were neat and combed like it hadn't been in a long time. He loved that hair in every way. Loose and misaligned, combed, and gathered in braids, tangled in his hands when they made love. His hands burned from the need to touch her and in the midst of that intensity of the first meeting, all that accumulated anger and fatigue also reappeared.</p><p>In Dany's bedchamber – or he thought it was hers – she ordered the servants to fill the stone tub with hot water. He meanwhile walked instinctively to the bed and lay down on it, closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep immediately, barely hearing and feeling her move to the other side of the bed. Jon admired her for standing him with that stench and allowing him to have a moment of rest.</p><p>He fell asleep for long hours, so much so that when he got up, he suspected that the servants had to refill with hot water the bathtub. Dany was no longer in the chamber, so he waited for the servants to give him privacy before undressing and throwing himself into the hot water. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She returned when the moon was already high in the Braavosi sky. He was still in the water, even though it was already lukewarm. </p><p>The look on her beautiful face told him that she had a mixture of regret, guilt, and suspicion. There were many unspoken things between the two of them.</p><p>"I would invite you in," he said, breaking the silence, "but I think it is too cold for your taste."</p><p>He didn't finish saying that when Dany started untying the laces that held her deep blue gown in place to bare her body. He swallowed hard and suppressed his lust again. They needed to speak first.</p><p>Dany seemed to have a similar mindset because as soon as she was in the tub, she stayed a safe distance from his grasp, with the same conflicting gaze.</p><p>"You shouldn't have left our children alone," she said.</p><p>That simple sentence was enough for his anger to overflow.</p><p>"Are you really going to talk to me about leaving our children?" he snapped.</p><p>"It's not the same," she defended herself, frowning, "You risked too much."</p><p>"How is it not the same? You are their mother!"</p><p>"And you, their father! If something happened to me, you were supposed to stay with them. You were going to take care of them!"</p><p>Almost in an animal instinct, he crossed the waters towards her and grabbed her by the waist to push her from the other side, against the wall. Although it never failed to burn his skin with need and desire, this time he was immersed in the frustration caused by her stubbornness. He cradled her face in his hands and held her tight so that she saw the determination in his eyes.</p><p>"That would not do. Never. Either we are both in this or nothing," he said. </p><p>She returned an equally desperate look.</p><p>"We are parents. Their small existences depend on us," she insisted, closing his wrists in her hands. "As much as we love each other, they always have to be first. I didn't think you were going to follow this course of action when I sent you that message."</p><p>"What message?" he asked, confused.</p><p>"The fire," she replied, looking at the hearth as if she wanted to point out something. "Actually, it was Kinvara. I told her to show you Yara Greyjoy."</p><p>Jon remembered then that night when he decided not to fight Sansa and instead seek an alliance with the only other person in Westeros who might have an interest in undermining his cousin's dilapidated kingdom.</p><p>A Kraken. That is what he saw in the fire.</p><p>Dany relaxed in his grip.</p><p>"Honestly, I thought you would come to her with the truth of our situation," she went on, looking down and scratching one eye. The gesture reminded him terribly of the children.</p><p>"She wouldn't have believed me and I didn't want to involve the kids in any way," Jon said, smoothing with his thumbs the shape of her eyebrows as he knew she liked it. In response, she threw her head back. "Daenerys," he called her seriously, forcing her to look him in the eye again. She blinked and those lilac light looked at him closely. "It's not working. <em>This</em>. I can't go on like this."</p><p>She went limp for a long time until she finally nodded. "It's not working for me, either." She made a noise with her tongue and added, "What am I saying? This is awful for me. I can't keep doing it either. I have so many things to tell you that I don't know where to start."</p><p>Although a part of him regretted finding her this way, he was also relieved not to be alone in the feeling. They were both burdened by their wars and yet the first thing that had crossed their minds was their family.</p><p>"Jorian had a couple of teeth fall out," Jon said suddenly, remembering his son and the weeks he spent hissing the words for it. Dany smiled and again as her eyes filled with tears. "Missella too but she was more careful to avoid running out of both at the same time."</p><p>"Jorian is still the curious one and Missella the prudent, right?" she asked.</p><p>"I think they are both curious in their own way. Jorian has less control over his enthusiasm and Missella saves hers for special occasions. Like when Dalya started walking." </p><p>She sobbed then, and he wanted to stop, feeling that he was causing her harm instead of sharing the moments of their children, but she encouraged him to continue telling her about all of this while resting her head on his chest. The already cold water inviting them to get out of it.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Do you know what I have noticed?" he told her as they lay on a couch, looking out over the city. </p><p>She pulled on a robe and gave him breeches. Otherwise, he could never have controlled himself.</p><p>Dany lifted her head from his chest and looked at him intently.</p><p>"Jorian is actually shy when he is with other children."</p><p>Daenerys smiled and nodded.</p><p>"I think it's because he had very little contact with them when we were here."</p><p>The memory of that little piece of life that was lost never failed to low his spirits. He wanted nothing more than to make up for the lost time. </p><p>"They remind me?"</p><p>The question made him start.</p><p>Not only because of the naivety and fear behind her words but because, having spent so much time comforting them every time they asked about her without getting a satisfactory answer, made him believe it was crazy even thinking that they could've forgotten her.</p><p>"Of course they do!" he replied. "Jorian has made you a bone necklace similar to his. I asked him to make one for me and he flatly refused, arguing that only you two can have one because you share the same color hair. When I told him that Dalya also had it that color, you know what he did? He put soot in her hair!" </p><p>"Oh, gods," Daenerys said bursting with laughter and tears. She hit him in the chest. "Why did you let him do that!"</p><p>"I was with Missella in her bow lessons," he explained, having already told her that their oldest daughter had started training in that activity. "And Missella," he paused, breathing after the laugh, "Well, you know how she is. A silent one."</p><p>"Our daughters are very much like you," she cut in. </p><p>"I tried to keep up with the lessons, you know? And every time we read a story, she just wants to hear the one about the Silver Queen."</p><p>Dany shook her head, overwhelmed. </p><p>"I miss them too much," she said between stifled sobs. "I am so sorry that I left Dalya being so young. I never thought this was going to be this hard and long."</p><p>"I think she was the one who best dealt with it, Dany. The first days of your absence, she looked for you with her eyes everywhere. But over time, she learned to accept it.  I have no doubt that as soon as she sees you again she won't want to let you go anymore." He put a hand to hee cheek and cradled her. She put a light kiss on the chest. "She looks too much like you. Sometimes I look at her and it is just too much for me."</p><p>"What are we going to do Jon?" she asked in a soft voice.</p><p>"I'm not going back without you. You should take that for granted."</p><p>Dany nodded and settled better on top of him, climbing up to his face and placing a tender kiss on his lips. He breathed in her scent and it was like lighting a fire, which started as insignificant and turned into a blaze.</p><p>Somehow they returned to the bedchamber, which remained dark and dimly lit by the soft fire in the hearth. She pushed him onto the bed and in front of his stunned gaze, she took off her robe. </p><p>Eyes rapt, Jon followed every move as Dany climbed onto the bed and crawled up to him, reaching for him to kiss him as her hand landed on his tight. He savored her tongue with his, nipping at her lower lip and sucking on it. Her hand went to reach the fastenings of his breeches, as he slid his hands down her back to reach for her hair. However, halfway through he felt something stop him. A harshness on her skin that hadn't been there before.</p><p>"What...?" he said, pulling away from her so he could force her to lay on her stomach next to him. Jon tossed her hair to one side and found the reason for the discomfort in his touch: a long scar across her back.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She braced herself on her arms, her breathing still shaky after their intense encounter. He, meanwhile, was frozen as he inspected the evidence of the incident in Volantis, brushing his fingertips over the texture of the wound.</p><p>"What in Seven Hells is the meaning of this, Daenerys?"</p><p>She made an attempt to turn around but he held her still in place as he continued to check her scar. She wanted to see his face to tell him what had happened.</p><p>"Does a war wound seem so surprising to you?" she said, gasping for breath.</p><p>Then he loosened his hold on her and Dany took the opportunity to turn and hide under the bedclothes. She swallowed hard, feeling her body succumb to exhaustion again.</p><p>"I was ambushed at Volantis," she explained, scratching her forehead in an anxious gesture. She raised her eyes to look at him and shrugged. "It could've been worst."</p><p>"What are you trying to say they ambushed you?" He, too, was now removed from the passionate haze that had drunk them both moments earlier. Now, a shadow of horror and concern crossed his face. </p><p>Dany leaned against the headboard, her arms crossed over the bedclothes and her knees up. In this way, he would understand that she would not speak until he eased his angry state. Without further words he obliged, climbing out of bed to finish undressing and join her again. </p><p>Then Dany leaned her back against his chest. There she told him everything related to King Freya, his alliance with Daario Naharis, the Second Sons and...Tyrion. She could feel him breathing hard when the details exposed more of the dangers she went through. Finally, her eyes were already heavy and at some point later, she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"I'm sure you would like to hear an explanation," she said to Yara the next day, again face to face in the courtroom. This time accompanied by Jon, who although now clean and shaved, was still as reserved and quiet as the day before.</p><p>"What else do I need to know? You're mad. Not about King's Landing. No." She lifted her chin in Jon's direction. "But for this."</p><p>Of course, the Ironborn queen had a biased perspective on it. Daenerys would be naive if she expected another reaction from her.</p><p>"Things did not happen as you think," said Daenerys.</p><p>"Please don't mock of my intelligence trying to contradict yourself," Yara said, referring to yesterday's conversation in which Daenerys admitted that she died and was brought back.</p><p>"I mean what happened in King's Landing. I was poisoned and what happened–" She paused, gulping at the memories that came and went in her mind. "You knew it wasn't in my plans to hurt innocent people."</p><p>Images of that first war council made up of Yara, Ellaria, and her daughters, and Lady Olenna Tyrell returned to her memory.</p><p>"We can all change our minds," Yara shrugged. "Besides, that was always the dwarf's advice. And it hasn't been very helpful, has it?"</p><p>In that, she was right. Following Tyrion's advice was always a big mistake.</p><p>"Whatever happened between Jon and me–" she tried to get back to the topic, but Yara cut her off.</p><p>"You knew that he and the dwarf had planned to do so, right? Poisoned or not, he betrayed you. And yes, perhaps, I am not an expert in matters of love, but it does not seem to me that someone who knows you that way would take the decision so quickly without first seeing why you did it "</p><p>Tension filled the air in the room. Daenerys didn't need eyes on her neck to realize that Jon beside her had turned to stone.</p><p>"That's between me and my husband," Daenerys snapped.</p><p>"Your husband? I see," says the captain in a sarcastic tone.</p><p>"He is also the father of my three children," Daenerys added to challenge. </p><p>Yara threw her head back with a chuckle. Daenerys realized that saying she had burned the city willingly was better than facing all these meaningless explanations. </p><p>Daenerys lifted her chin and filled herself with courage. <em>No</em>, she thought. She couldn't recoil now. </p><p>"A lot of things don't make sense and I can't provide you with all the answers. But rest assured, Yara, they won't separate us or put us against each other again. And this...this is just the beginning. You are <em>with us</em> or you are <em>against us</em>."</p><p>Yara leaned back in her seat and looked at her curiously. Daenerys didn't want to earn her resentment and that's exactly why she knew there was only one way to deal with certain temperaments like hers.</p><p>Finally, Yara nodded, throwing up her hands in surrender.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Arianne (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sunspear.</strong>
</p><p>"I have news on the matter that I commented to you about a few moons ago. About...the man named Jon Snow."</p><p>Arianne and her brother and Prince Quentyn were sitting outside in one of the many terraces overlooking the numerous pools and fountains of the Water Gardens. Now that he spent less time there, few were moments of leisure he could spare to his younger sister. </p><p>They were engaged in another game of Cyvasse. Arianne's pieces had a greater mastery on the board than her brother's, but this, far from discouraging the young prince, little mattered to him. She was good at it and had spent more years having a great mentor like their father Doran was. Quentyn had no interest in winning anyway. </p><p>At Arianne's comment, Quentyn looked at her intently. His chin was propped up in his fist.</p><p>"Rhaegar's alleged lost son," her brother replied, reluctantly. </p><p>"<em>Alleged</em> heir to the Iron Throne," she remarked.</p><p>In a surprising move, Quentyn kicked one of her pieces out.</p><p>"The Iron Throne is no more," he said.</p><p>Arianne licked and bit her lower lip, pensive. </p><p>"But there are still Seven Kingdoms."</p><p>"That no longer concerns us."</p><p>"Then why do we keep responding to the boy who calls himself King. Why did you agree with his crowning."</p><p>Quentyn laughed when she mentioned that. </p><p>"Simple courtesy."</p><p>"Cowardice, you mean."</p><p>Quentyn sighed at the informal treatment of her little sister. Although he excused himself by saying that he was watching over Dorne's peace, Arianne knew that it was also a subtle fear. She still didn't know why.</p><p>"Arianne," he warned, "Be careful of the words that come out of your mouth. Dorne's calm is fragile."</p><p>"I'm just saying! It's a rumor that is fueling more every day since the Dragon Queen's death. It wouldn't be a surprise. The Targaryens have been killing each other since when Aegon's grave was still warm." </p><p>"Speaking of Targaryens," he said, frowning and leaning back against the back of his seat, "A black dragon soars the skies of Essos frightening slavers. It is very obvious that nothing that was said back then was true. Daenerys Targaryen is alive, and her bastard lover gave her a free way to flee penance for her crimes. Starks and Targaryens were allies not long before."</p><p>"Arys said that Sansa Stark and most of the lords of the North did not like the presence of the Dragon Queen and her foreign armies," she opposed. </p><p>Another sound of disapproval came out from his brother's throat.</p><p>"I don't like you spending too much time with that man. He's a Knight. he shouldn't be spending time between your sheets."</p><p>"My sheets are not what we are going to discuss."</p><p>"Nor are we going to continue discussing the hypothetical existence of an heir to a throne that no longer exists. We are well in this way. Dorne is free. We maintain a cordial relationship with the rest of the continent. Daenerys Targaryen remains in Essos and what is left of The Starks dig their own early and cold graves. Let trouble rest, little sister. And keep your sheets and the honor of that knight clean."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Winterfell.</strong>
</p><p>She sat down in the reclining chair her noble husband had sent her, setting her cane aside and wincing. <em>Even with gifts, you're poor tasted, Harry</em>, she thought as she reached a hand up to her swollen belly and rubbed it as if this would ease the pain the overwhelm her body. Now she was barely leaving her chambers because the pregnancy had worsened her already pitiful physical condition. The pain in her legs was excruciating and more than ever Sansa depended on Maester Wolkan's brew, which in turn made it impossible for her to keep up with her kingdom affairs. </p><p>Until one day, the Queen decided to get up and defy her convalescence. Several moons had passed since the ships sailed to block the entrance to Hardhome and so far, there was no response from her bro–<em>cousin</em>. His lack of reaction worried Sansa because she knew him well and knew he was impulsive. </p><p><em>He's planning something</em>, a spiteful voice whispered in her mind. Sometimes it was Joffrey's, other times Ramsey's, rarely Cersei's, and more often, Littlefinger's. She wanted to get rid of those voices but she didn't know how so she kept drinking and drinking the tea until there were no more voices in her mind. </p><p>"I don't think it's doing the babe any good," warned the ever–benevolent Maester. Sometimes she wished to send him away as his constant worry only increase Sansa’s predicament.  </p><p>"If you take the tea from me, I'm going to rip this child out of my guts with my bare hands," she replied in an overstated threat. She did not plan to harm the child but neither did she plan to give up the only thing that brought her peace in those days. </p><p>This child will be born, she decided. This one and at least two spares. </p><p>She turned her attention to the various reports on her lap. She and her Master of Coin had devised a painstaking plan to circumvent the kingdoms trade stalemate. It had to bear fruit before Iron Bank sent a mission. She was grateful to the Gods, old and new, that Sweet Robyn and her uncle Edmure were negligent enough that their own people better believed leaving the matter to the Queen in the North.</p><p>Much of the land and peasant agriculture in Sansa’s kingdom was dedicated to wool production, and although metallurgy in the northern towns did not enjoy the relevance of weavers, it was a prominent craft and produced goods in large quantities that were mainly sold locally. The few resources and inhabitants of the North were sufficient to keep the local economy active. Besides, nothing compared with the quality of their fleeces. White Harbor's favorable tariffs brought manufacturing back to her kingdom, and so too some southron merchants had decided to stop in there rather than risk paying the high tariffs to the Bran’s Crown.</p><p>The idea of a port in Hardhome was ridiculous but dangerous if, in the long run, it affected White Harbor's advantage. Now more than ever she must quell any attempt by the wildlings to undermine the integrity of her kingdom.</p><p><em>Jon has to die</em>, the voice in her said. It was Littlefinger’s. She had already heard that message, but more entrenched as he liked to hide his intentions.</p><p>She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and hissed.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XV)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Qarth.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>It had been weeks since the last time he saw Freya and Tyrion had decided it was time to go home. He preferred to risk his fate with his soldiers than with the madman or the warlocks.</p><p>"<em>My little lion, he's thinking of doing his thing</em>," Shae whispered in his ear as he headed towards the entrance of a brothel that was within the king's palace.</p><p><em>I could never bed another after you</em>, he revealed to her ghostly presence.</p><p>Perhaps it was because his seditious lifestyle had brought him to ruin in the first place, but he was never able to return to that old habit. Shae's giggle accompanied him to the place where he asked for one of the cheapest whores. He didn't really have anything to pay with, but being by the king’s side gained him an advantage.</p><p>The woman behind the counter showed him the way, looking at him with revulsion.</p><p><em>Here, my lion, don't forget your chains</em>.</p><p>Tyrion shifted nervously, listening to the chains clink at his waist.</p><p>An elderly woman was waiting for him inside the room. She looked up at him and then looked down again, disinterested. His hands opened and closed as breath escaped his body.</p><p>The woman got up, much taller than he was, and walked to face him. When she made an attempt to undress him, he cleared his throat and asked her to bend down and turn around.  The woman let out a disgusted sigh but obeyed.</p><p>"Close your eyes, please," he asked in a thin voice.</p><p><em>I wish you would have said the same to me</em>, Shae said.</p><p>He had casually learned from the stories of Freya's soldiers who constantly accompanied him that Freya's whores were among the most coveted in the city, so much so that men of lesser rank hardly got access to them if not through an irregular transaction with the brothel’s chief.</p><p>There is a secret entrance, he knew, after crossing a long corridor leading out of the palace.</p><p>He winced but finally proceeded. He removed the chain from his waist and gathered the necessary forces to tie it around the woman's neck and in a quick movement, cut off her breath in the same fashion with which he ended Shae.</p><p>The whore left silently as well.</p><p>Tyrion dropped to the ground for a moment and looked at his hands. <em>You are not a good man, you never have been</em>, Shae said to him...or he said to himself. <em>You wanted your sister dead, you wanted your brother dead, you wanted your queen dead. You only need one more, Tyrion. One more dead</em>.</p><p>He nodded decidedly, getting up to rummage through the whore's things for the coins he knew they always had hidden.</p><p><em>Under the mattress, my love</em>, Shae indicated. It was there where he found them. Tyrion counted and decided it would be enough to get him out of this city to anywhere that would take him away from this madness. Far from Freya.</p><p>His guards were with their respective companies, so they didn't notice when he made his way to that corridor, outside the palace.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>"So, I must presume that now, <em>my king</em>, needs of my aid to deal with your disagreement with your little sister," Yara Greyjoy said with a mocking and complaining tone that reminded him of Theon.</p><p>"My cousin," Jon corrected her. "And I'm not your king. The agreement with the Free Folk still stands. They did their part of the bargain by turning me in.”</p><p>"I've been swindled."</p><p>"They gave you Jon Snow in exchange for an alliance," Daenerys cut in, turning to him and looking at him curiously. "I thought you wanted to deal with the blockade."</p><p>He had only told her about what had happened in Pyke, but had neglected his strategy for dealing with the naval blockade. Not because he didn't trust her but because until now, Jon hadn't been sure she would agree. After listening to her conversation with Yara, he realized that there was no other way to proceed.</p><p>"If there is one thing I learned in the Night’s Watch, it is that intimidation only pursues a purpose and sometimes even exposes it. Sansa would never risk such an affair just to provoke me. I once underestimated her intelligence. I will not do it again.”</p><p>"Then how are you going to solve this?" Yara asked, reluctantly.</p><p>He raised his eyebrows.</p><p>“In the <em>old way</em>.”</p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After hours of conversations and exchanges that caused him several headaches, he finally slipped out of the meeting room to meet the warriors and spearwives, who greeted him amid cheers and welcome praise. He heard about talk of the events of recent times and also, he told them about the things that had happened at home. With wide eyes, he heard about the looting they had practiced throughout the city and how Daenerys and "the great black beast" had "dominated" Braavos.</p><p>Despite the contentment, most were ready to go home, having plundered what others in a lifetime. A couple of them had escaped never to return, choosing to venture into the rest of Essos.</p><p>It was only when Jon noticed the gold bracelet on the wrist of one of them that he realized the absence of his.</p><p>Daenerys came to him when the sun was setting, or so he supposed as servants came to light his room and serve food. Jon had never been so overwhelmed by the attention, and it made him wonder if she ever longs for this or if she would not resent the lack of it when they return to Wolves Den.</p><p>"Dany," he called to her as she walked to the terrace, inviting him with her eyes. He raised his arm and showed her his bare wrist. They had been on that same place the night before, exposed and lost in themselves to notice.</p><p>She blinked and opened her lips in that worried gesture of hers. She walked to one of her chests where she got the accessory that she gave him.</p><p>Once outside they seemed to forget about the worry as they listened to the night sounds and the voices that came and went around the mansion. Only then could Jon see how immense the place was.</p><p>"You stole the house from the Sealord of Braavos?" he asked, with a hint of amusement.</p><p>"I have spent too much time among the free folk," she replied, feigning seriousness.</p><p>They both sat down to discuss the earlier affair and the situation in Essos while enjoying the food, especially him, who had spent months feeding on Yara Greyjoy's mercy. Surprisingly, they ignored their reservations about what they were doing. Regret was superfluous and they both knew it. However, he had Yara's words still on his mind, and he wondered if she would have them too.</p><p><em>It does not seem to me that someone who knows you that way would take the decision so quickly without first seeing why you did it</em>.</p><p>“I met someone,” she said after a long moment of silence.</p><p>He sucked in a deep breath.</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"A man called Lyrissos." She made a pause and then added, “I think he...he understands it better than I do."</p><p>"What thing?"</p><p>"About everything that happened after I left the first time. And probably more than I would ever do about a lot of things." </p><p>“Elaborate on that.”</p><p>He noted the dejection in her voice, so he invited her to expand on the subject to silence his own invasive thoughts.</p><p>Dany told him about this person. From her point of view, it seemed to be a novelty, someone to whom in her first time in this she wouldn’t have paid much attention. Honestly, Jon was also taken aback but by the way, she spoke of him, with a certain trace of admiration, and soon found himself unsettled in an incorrect way.</p><p>"It seems to me you found someone who shares your ideals," he simply commented after she asked him what he thought about the matter. <em>You have not included me in this, what else should I say about it</em>, in fact, he wanted to say.</p><p>She was lying on his chest, so she had to look back and up to find his eyes.</p><p>"We shared a lot of things in common actually," she agreed, "We both like cocks, for starters."</p><p>Silence. She waited for his reaction that he couldn't contain much longer. Their lips formed a smile and soon they were both laughing, she hitting his tight in a spirited way.</p><p>Jon closed his hands into fists as she took him by the nape to kiss him. He wanted to fuck her right there but there’s also a need in him that had nothing to do with his arousal. Something that felt out of place.</p><p>Dany pulled away from him to see him with worried eyes. She had noticed his unease.</p><p>“What’s happening?” she asked in a soft, vulnerable voice. </p><p>Jon hesitated for a moment. This fragile harmony that he had longed for so much could crumble if he didn't choose the right words to express what he felt.</p><p>"I didn't know you this way, Dany."</p><p>"This way?"</p><p>"When Yara Greyjoy said that someone who knows you in a way would not have made that decision so quickly-"</p><p>Dany was startled.</p><p>"Yara didn't see me that day at King's Landing," she snapped. "I don't understand why you have to go back to it. I told you it's all behind."</p><p>Then she got up and went to the stone railing. Far from him.</p><p>"Dany," he pleaded in a tortured voice from his place. She did not answer, so he insisted again. "It is because it is behind us that we are never going to separate ourselves from that reality."</p><p>She turned and looked at him angrily.</p><p>"What does it matter?"</p><p>Jon got up from his place and went to where she was, standing to one side, not too close to invade her space, nor too far to make her believe that he would allow this matter to create another discord between them.</p><p>"It matters because someday, as improbable as it seems now, our children will know that their father killed their mother. And while they manipulated you, nobody forced my hand. That is the reality that we are going to have to face eventually. "</p><p>"We are going to tell them that we faked it all."</p><p>"Are we going to lie to them?"</p><p>"Better than telling them that-" she trailed off, sighing, "But then Jorian and Missella are going to wonder why you weren't with us from the start."</p><p>All the lies were finite, he knew. Even the ones that seemed impossible to dig up.</p><p>"Sometimes I think I'm not being fair. That I don't measure my actions and its consequences," she said, staring blankly at the city. "I'm stuck, Jon. I don't know what to do."</p><p>"Neither do I," he admitted.</p><p>They fell silent again as they stared at the breathtaking view in front of them. It was inconceivable to think that right now they were in control of the most important city in Essos and yet they felt far from savoring a real victory.</p><p>"I haven't told Lyrissos that I burned King's Landing because I was poisoned," she broke the silence to say. Jon listened carefully to her this time. "The slaves and the people who follow me here in Essos, they...like what I do."</p><p>She said that last part vaguely, as if she was suspicious of explaining what it was really about. It was that insecurity with him that bothered Jon, but he understood after all.</p><p>"Did you burn people?"</p><p>"Of course I did."</p><p>"Fine."</p><p>She scoffed.</p><p>"Fine? The last time I did that, you were mad at me."</p><p>"Because Jarl saw something he should never have seen."</p><p>The memory made him clench his hands again.</p><p>"I mean King's Landing. I mean innocents. I mean people who are going to get hurt no matter what. I...I don't want to hurt them. Not on purpose. But every time I enclose myself to impossible standards it seems that everything tends to come back to me in the most cruel way." She tilted her head to his chest and took a deep breath. "No. It's not that you didn't know me. You knew me too well. You knew very well who I am. I am a dragon, Jon. As long as I live, there will be people whose lives will be doomed."</p><p>Daenerys didn't give him time to reply, she returned to the chamber where she started undressing in front of his stunned gaze.</p><p>"What are you insinuating?" he asked her, walking into the room. Observing her movements.</p><p>"Why did you kill Arya, Jon? Why did you kill your favorite sister?"</p><p>He was startled by her question and felt the need to back away and escape from there. He never gave her a thought anymore. It had already happened. He had chosen and could not recant. Nor did he feel that he could.</p><p>Dany rubbed her forehead, constricted.</p><p>"Sorry. I went too far."</p><p>"I killed her because I knew she was never going to forgive you. She would have never believed you were poisoned."</p><p>"And why do you think that?"</p><p>"Because I knew Arya or rather, who was Arya at the time." Jon felt his eyes weigh him down wearily. He went to sit on the edge of the bed. "That day at King's Landing, I saw the way she was looking at you. I knew it was a matter of time before she tried to do what I did later. And it was that idea that terrified me. Because there was no way to that she would make it out of it alive. So, I thought have to do it myself and quickly "</p><p>"You were protecting your family," she said from where she is, looking at him with a sad, defeated smile.</p><p>"I'm not proud of that decision. It almost took away the possibility of a real family, and it's probably going to cost me my children's love."</p><p>Dany had changed into a lighter gown and the same robe she had on the night before. His mouth went dry as his eyes instinctively traveled through the curves of her body. He was tired and aroused. At that moment, he would have wanted to bury all his afflictions and regrets in her skin.</p><p>Dany crossed her arms as she walked back to him. She swallowed hard and dodged her gaze, looking toward the door.</p><p>"You are a protector, Jon. You cannot fight your nature. And I cannot blame you for that, because it is the reason why I fell in love with you and why I will love you until the day I die."</p><p>His heart skipped a beat. He wanted her to look at him so he could tell her that he loved her too and that she was no less than him in that regard. Why in seven hells would she be here if it were not like this?</p><p>Finally she relented and looked at him but suspiciously, before saying, "I need you to come with me to see something."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Daenerys took him to a place below the city. Along the way he couldn't help but think how wrong she was to believe him even a protector. He certainly felt far from that perspective. But contradicting her in something was like swimming against the current, eventually he tended to surrender and let himself go with it.</p><p>They descended the damp stairs in the darkness, illuminated only by the torches each one carried. They reached the destination and Jon felt the smell of scorched meat.</p><p><em>Drogon</em>.</p><p>"Should I take off the bracelet?" he asked.</p><p>"It wouldn't make any difference," Dany answered him and he thought he heard her giggle.</p><p>She had told him that the one she was wearing was different and therefore necessary to control Drogon. Jon could barely see anything in so much darkness but he supposed the dragon was somewhere down there.</p><p>"I guess this is goodbye then," he felt the need to jest.</p><p>He hadn't realized she was so close until he found her halfway across from him, looking at him with a serious expression.</p><p>"If the day comes when I have to kill you, Jon Snow. It will be with my bare hands," she warned.</p><p>Jon heard voices in the background. Moans and whimpers, causing him to back off in confusion.</p><p>"Where are we, Dany?"</p><p>She pointed the torch in the direction the sound was coming from until she finally lit what appeared to be a cell. He still couldn't see who it was.</p><p>"These are people who have contributed to reinforcing Freya in my absence," she finally provided an explanation. Her face was the same as the one she had the night she executed Varys. The same expression that he feared and cringed at. Now he was only curious. "Some of them dared to have slaves even here in a city built by former slaves." She took a deep breath. "Sure some more guilty than others. I don't know. They refuse to speak."</p><p>Daenerys looked at him closely, walking towards him and this time her expression was the same as that when they were in the the cave at Dragonstone.</p><p>"<em>Isn't survival more important than your pride?</em>" she had asked him.</p><p>This time Dany pulled out a knife out of nowhere and for a moment Jon believed she was going to carry out her threat. He couldn't care less.</p><p>"Here, Jon," she told him, instead, handing over the object. "Do your duty."</p><p>Then she turned away, leaving him with the knife in his hand. He thought she was referring to executing her prisoners but Jon soon realized that this was not the case because she spoke in High Valyrian calling Drogon, words that were mere indications and he could understand.</p><p>"<em>Drogon. Come here</em>."</p><p>The floor shook under the weight of the awakened beast. Jon apprehensively watched Drogon appear out of nowhere in the dark, his gigantic muzzle barely approaching Dany, now in front of what appeared to be the cells where she was holding these people.</p><p>Jon frowned and approached her, again recklessly ignoring that Drogon might believe to his presence as a threat. Dany turned to see with eyes still and almost blurred in the dark. She was inviting him to prevent her from doing what she was about to do.</p><p>"<em>Dracarys</em>," Dany commanded to Drogon, but always seeing Jon, challenging him.</p><p>Drogon's flames lit up the place. The pleas turned into screams of horror as the fire consumed their flesh and all what those people were.</p><p>The scent of burning flesh transferred him back to King's Landing, but this time he did not feel the terror and desolation he felt that time but the rancor of all that was taken from him that day.</p><p>What he became that day.</p><p>Jon closed his hand on the knife and with accurate aim directed it at Daenerys, except that this time, his other hand held the fabric of her gown first.</p><p>He cut the fabrics covering her body in half, making an opening large enough for him to break the material with his own hands. In the rush he inadvertently cut himself, leaving a trail of blood that he ignored, tossing the knife aside.</p><p>Dany let out a strangled moan as her knees buckled and together they fell to the ground. She threw the torch aside, which for some reason did not go out immediately but remained there as a silent bystander. Jon's hand slid to hold her still by the hip while the other pushed her on her elbows. In this way, her whole rear wat his mercy and this knowledge only made him writhe with desire. </p><p>He probe her entrance, playing with her sensitive skin with his fingers and sinking them in her core like teasing. She moaned his name in warning though her body grew heavy and impatient. He grinned at her lame attempt of threatening him so she reached out with her right hand for his thigh to pinch him. He responded by assaulting her with a with a sudden thrust that took all the air out of her lungs, letting out a loud whimper. He took her this way as his hands traveled all over the parts of her body that he had longed to touch again, feeding on the sounds that came out of her mouth every time he buried himself deeper in her.</p><p>Jon couldn't see her face but he supposed she was staring at the fire that was now consuming the meat that used to be a person. Imagining her enraptured in this, turned his movements erratic until she tightened around him as he felt her whole body tauten and her cries become increasingly sharp.</p><p>He came undone shortly after her, regaining sanity in time to finish off her, spreading his seed on the sullied-with-blood skin of her back and the curve of her arse. </p><p>Dany's body gave way under his. Both feeling satiated and worn out but filled and content with a newfound realization. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Do you remember when I said that this was going to have only ten chapters and then fifteen? God, I suck for this. The good thing is that the whole plot with Arianne that I added at the last minute is rather destined to unfold in the aftermath of this.</p><p>In this chapter there is a certain symbolism that I would brag about if it were an audiovisual medium, such as the fact that all the four elements are involved in Jonerys scenes. </p><p>The first is earth: dirt. Jon is dirty and misaligned when he meets Dany again. And in another sense, Yara (islands, earth) is the one who comes to sully their already affected relationship.</p><p>Water: vulnerability. In the bathtub when both are literally and figuratively naked.</p><p>Air. Tranquility and ignorance. They both go to the terrace and are outdoors, completely oblivious to the fact Jon no longer has the bracelet.</p><p>Fire: Passion and determination. ~ the smut ~ but also to the point where both completely abandon their initial reluctance and embrace fire and blood.</p><p>Thank you for reading as always❤</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Take me home before the storm.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for being so patient with me and my lazy ass.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>20.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Take me home before the storm.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Winterfell</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>The queen's face contorted as a new wave of pain that began in her lower back spread to her limbs, eliciting an almost animal screech out of her that could be heard through the long corridors of her castle. Servants and passersby whispered what they should rebuke as soon as the thought crossed their minds. She was dying. Or the price was not making it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Please, my Queen, a little bit more," a young woman encouraged her. The young Queen responded by biting her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The only thing she would do is stretching out her slender fingers, trying to reach the tea at her bedside.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Not now, my Queen,” the Maester told her, removing the cup out of reach.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She flopped back on her bed, her various pillows cushioning her fall.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"My queen, the child comes in a bad position. I am so sorry," the midwife lamented with a whimper. She knew what happened in these cases.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Just...pull it out of me," Sansa responded, exhausted and resigned.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Being the daughter of a woman who had had almost no problem bringing children into the world, Sansa had thought that it would surely be an easy affair bringing her own. She hadn’t counted on this scenario. Her pride has blinded her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Bring your hand," the Maester indicated to one of the young chambermaids assisting the birth. She approached apprehensively, fearing what was being asked of her. “Put your hand there–”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Yes. You will! Your Queen demands you!” he replied, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was one of the few people who still hold great affection for her. In addition, he knew the chaos that would be unleashed if mother and child did not come out of that chamber alive.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Immediately the woman obeyed, face distorted with disgust.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He shifted into that tender mind that had already awaken. He remembered when he did this with Hodor so long ago. It was always dangerous but it was the only way to keep the boy here as his mother fought to bring him to the world. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh, gods,” the girl servant cried as she felt the twisted flesh in her hand. “I think it is done,” she said while weeping.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He saw glimpses of a mind there, weaker than the usual. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Quiescent, the boy came out of his mother's womb making no sound and no move. The Maester looked at this scene apprehensively but not because of his quietude but because instead of thigh shut eyes of a newborn, this child had wide-open eyes and them abnormally turned. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Everyone in the room remained still beholding this hideous view.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Pain was all she remembered feeling. Before, during, and after. She knew she should have been stronger –not only on that depended the well-being of her son– but that of the entire North. However, all that Sansa wanted to do at that moment was throw herself off the castle battlements again and run into the forest never to return.</p><p><em>She could even close her eyes and imagine Theon holding out his hand and inviting her to jump with him</em>.</p><p>"He needs the warmth of your body, Your Grace, that no other can give him," Maester Wolkan explained to her for the third time in less than a quarter of an hour. The squalling of her newborn was incessant and made her already aching head thunder.</p><p>Sansa gave him the same answer as a few moments ago.</p><p>"Give it to the maid who gave birth to my husband’s bastard."</p><p>What had initially been a mockery of her honor was now a blessing. Sansa didn't even remember her name.</p><p>"She is nursing her own child, your grace. Besides, it won't be easy. The prince needs his mother to give him the care he needs."</p><p>Sansa took a deep breath and opened her eyes, annoyed.</p><p>"What makes you think that what<em> did that</em> is not also in the milk of my breasts? Aren't you supposed to be a clever man?"</p><p>Sansa wanted the Maester to express his concern forthrightly. It was not that only she could take care of him because she was his mother – none of the wet nurses wanted to have her sick child near them.</p><p>At that point, she was fully aware that she had given birth to a sickly infant who probably would not live beyond the year.</p><p>Why risk loving someone that was not going to stay?</p><p>This was a failure for her. Everything she had endured to get to this point had become inane.</p><p>She gave the boy a look. His little body shook with tremors and she could see even from a distance the reddish spots that blotched his skin. Her heart clenched and again she felt heavy tears slide down her cheeks.</p><p><em>Not even his father wanted to bear the sight of him</em>.</p><p>Sansa nodded and moved her still aching body for the Maester to bring the babe over. She opened her robe, indifferent to the presence of that man who had healed her from the wounds of her second husband’s repeated attacks and allowed the child to be placed just above her bare chest.</p><p>She swallowed hard at the sudden sensation of disgust she felt as if her mind was alien to the rest of her body and found itself imprisoned in it.</p><p>It wasn't about the child, she assured herself but about the consequences of her misdeeds. Something that she had been afraid to face because she knew that in the end, she would only one answer: <em>it was too late and she was too afraid</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (V)</strong>
</p><p>
  <b>Wolves Den.</b>
</p><p>"Um, well, a dragon is like…” Tormund hesitated as he struggled to find the right words that could describe what those creatures looked like, “…like a giant chicken!” he came up with for some reason. </p><p>Jorian and Missella cocked their little heads in confusion. He could only imagine what those minds were thinking.</p><p>“Mama says chickens can’t fly because they are too big and their wings too small. But she <em>flies</em> <em>the dragon</em>!” Jorian grumbled at spotting the lapse in Tormund’s poor reasoning.</p><p>He only chuckled –he didn’t know what else he was supposed to say.</p><p>He and Munda took it upon themselves to instruct the children of the settlement to be careful with the words they uttered near the dragon-wolf children.  Ever since they found out about the existence of dragons, they'd been zealously querying for more knowledge. </p><p>Tormund knew it was unwise to leave that to chance, given their parents' complicated story. In an old conversation with Jon, Tormund learned that the Dragon Queen did not want her children to know of the beasts. He believed that it was a mistake to deny them that part of their blood but the decision was not in him, so he kept his thoughts to himself and followed their entreaty. </p><p>“Where is the dragon?” Missella asked. Although less obstinate than Jorian when it comes to prying, she was as determined as her brother to find out more about the secret they had just stumbled upon.</p><p>Dalya repeatedly babbled a strange unintelligible word that sounded like the word “<em>Dragon</em>” as she hopped on Tormund's lap. </p><p>"He fled," he replied, holding the girl under her armpits while moving his leg right up and down to follow her pace. He was waiting for the food in the bowl to cool enough not to burn the youngling mouth. Or fingers. Jorian and Missella were scattered on the floor with their wooden toys.</p><p>Jorian spared him a doubtful stare. "Where?"</p><p>"To a mountain," Tormund responded absently.</p><p>"To <em>the</em> mountains?"</p><p>Both children opened their eyes with amazement, looking out the window toward the mountains surrounding the village.</p><p>"Um, no, not those mountains. Another mountain."</p><p>Their shoulders slumped in disappointment.</p><p>As Tormund concentrated on feeding the youngest –who in return wanted to feed him as well– while he listened to bits and pieces of the conversation between the two older siblings.</p><p><em>Fucking Crow and Dragon Mama</em>, he cursed, thinking about how he has not spent this much time not even with his own children. Tormund decided he would geld Jon before having to endure taking care of another pack of his cubs.</p><p>"Mama and Papa went looking for him!" Jorian enthusiastically surmised.</p><p>"Hmm" Missella only said. She put a finger to her pursed mouth and narrowed her eyes in a thoughtful manner.</p><p>“We have a dragon, Missella!” he said again trying to share his overflowing emotion.</p><p>"Dragons breathe fire, Jorian,” she whispered as if it were a secret, “What if he burns us?” she asked him then with a voice that gave away she was only feigning appall.</p><p>“Don’t be stupid, Missella, Mama is the Dragon Queen, she flies dragons! That's Gragard said! She won’t let him burn us!”</p><p>"Don't call me stupid, you arse!" she chided him angrily while giving him an aggressive shove.</p><p>"Hey, stop there!" Tormund intervened before it could escalate. It was enough having to deal with the slip of the tongue of his grandchildren. “Those are forbidden words. You don’t say that!”</p><p>An icy look from the mother of dragons had been enough for Tormund to learn to moderate his dirty chatter in front of her children. But Daenerys was long gone and he was back to old habits no matter how much he tried to contain himself.</p><p>Not surprisingly, it was Jorian who questioned the injustice of being the only children in the whole village who were not allowed to curse.</p><p>“Why not? Gregard and Sigurd are allowed!” he said.</p><p><em>Well, ask your Mama</em>.</p><p>“But you are not. End of the story.”</p><p>He took a deep breath and placed Dalya atop the table. Her legs dangled in the air and she took a handful of food to her mouth and chewed on her porridge. Then he heard the soft whimper coming from where Jorian and Missella where.</p><p><em>For fuck’s sake</em>, he cursed in his mind, this time, as he looked at them conflicted with himself. He made sweet and sensitive Missella cry. She opened her mouth and let out a boisterous cry while rubbing one of her eyes with the back of her hand. Jorian frowned and patted his sister, saying words of consolation as he encouraged her to rise from their place on the floor. In this sudden togetherness, they made their way to their rooms.</p><p>Tormund stared after them, guilt burning in his chest.</p><p>“My dragon will burn your arse!” Jorian shouted at him before slapping the door.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (VIII)</strong>
</p><p><strong>King's Landing</strong>.</p><p>His sight traveled to various places in his kingdoms and wherever he went, a spark of chaos ignited as he could hear whispers of plots and alliances forming to go against the <em>broken man who sits in the capital and his suite of human filth</em>.</p><p>Each member of his little council represented an onslaught against the pride of the institutions that still stood. The Citadel insisted on the deposition of Samwell Tarly. The Hightowers gnashed their teeth at Bronn's presence in the Reach. The notion of a woman as the head of the king’s guard was inconceivable. And so on, little fires united in the fervor of a great fire that would burn Westeros to its very foundation stone. </p><p>He couldn't be more delighted. </p><p><em>Before the fire, the spark. After the fire, the smoke. And after the smoke, the storm</em>.</p><p>Only a broken boy was how they saw him but it was understandable given the inability of those to see under the skin of this host. Knowledge and wisdom they could never hold. Chaos was the only way. Bran would let them play their little games until it was necessary to look at the same enemy. To do this, he would use his powers to redouble the bet, sow more chaos where it already lived. </p><p>Lord Hightower could not counteract Bronn’s title, for this latter, although hated by the lords, was appreciated and defended by the large number of peasants who saw in him the change to the opulent lords who have tirelessly exploited them to work their lands.  It would take losing the favor of the commonfolk for Bronn to lose his head as well.</p><p>The Citadel had no way of supporting an army of its own, and the High Sparrow campaign had sown discord among its members. For all his imperfections, Samwell was more respected by the inhabitants of King's Landing than Pycelle had ever been, in part because the man was not afraid to take to the streets to face the harsher realities of the citizens.</p><p>That, and the fact that they shared a tremendous resentment against Daenerys Targaryen. </p><p>The rest of them had made the prudent decision to act discreetly taking advantage of the chaos.</p><p>Chaos was the only way. </p><p>His sight went further south, a window where a beautiful woman with dark skin and hair sat. He did not have the ability to read minds but could perfectly discern from the woman's absent stare that there was a thought turning her mind. A very clear one. She was looking north.</p><p><em>Not yet</em>, he thought. <em>Not yet</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Wolves Den.</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Ghost grunted when Missella reached for a type of poison ivy poking out of the frost. The violet eyes of his daughter remained on those of Ghost's for a moment before turning around and walking away. Enough warning for the girl to continue her walk through the forest, always careful not to stray from Munda and the other spearwives. She was carrying the carved bone doll Jon made for her before leaving.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He wondered if she could perceive him there.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He did not have to order the wolf to follow her trace as Ghost was naturally drawn to the wolf blood that ran in the veins of all his children, especially in Missella's. It was strange how Jorian's mind seemed to work like his, being able to feel the wolves close by and even dream that he ran through the forest with them, but it was her that the wolves followed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jon couldn't help but think of his mother, Lyanna. Sometimes he wondered if his daughter wasn't her image reborn. Dany used to tell him that the twins favored wolf blood more but in truth, it was an unfair comparison –the children didn't know that they also had dragon blood.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jon himself spent his entire life without knowing it, and when he finally did, he did not know what to do with that.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Missella, look at what we found!" Jorian and his friend Sigurd came running into her. "They are the bones of a giant, come see!" His silver-haired son called her, grabbing her hand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The children scampered to the place where the bones were found. Ghost was not far behind. Missella's tousled, curly hair was a stark contrast to the white of the landscape.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>An older boy –a grandson of Tormund– was moving the bones with a branch when they arrived.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Captivated, they began exchanging tales about the giants, even going so far as to mention the war on the wall against the Night's Watch that Jon knew very well. </em>
</p><p><em>Up to that point, neither Jorian nor Missella questioned further on that. </em> <em>Only when one of them in an outburst claimed that giants were the greatest beings that ever existed did Jorian venture to add that dragons were superior. </em></p><p>
  <em>Fuck, he thought. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Braavos.</strong>
</p><p>Drogon purred softly as she stroked his gigantic snout. Then he blinked slowly as his eyes stilled on her, conveying the so needed calm and affection she returned in the form of sweet nothings whispered to him like a secret only they would understand. Dany didn’t think there could be a fiercer bond between a rider and their dragon like that of them. And it had taken years of estrangement for her to realize how much she needed that part of her. But just as her bond with Drogon was essential to feel whole, that bond that bound her to her children also cried out for them.</p><p>She’s been resilient hitherto, enduring each one of the days that seemed eternal with herself alone with her thoughts of them. Jorian and Missella’s seventh nameday were to be in a moon from now. Dalya’s babes’ days were to come to an end. And she wasn't there to witness it all. Memories she wouldn’t be able to make up for. <em>They must be forgetting about me</em>, she used to think bitterly with a burning hole in her chest.</p><p>Daenerys sighed regretfully as Drogon's muzzle nudged at her trying, to encourage her. Suddenly she felt his tender purr turn into a low growl underneath her recumbent chest. She blinked her eyes open and found Jon standing at the feet of the stone stairs that led to the backshore beneath the house of the Sealord, where the mists rolled in off the waters and Drogon could be in disguise.</p><p>Although one of the coolest days, he wore a light garment consisting of a dark-brown leather tunic with a simple black tabard and a bare belt. On the other hand, Daenerys was clad in a wool and cotton dress lined with a fur shoulder shawl joint in her front by an iron chain that hugged her shoulders blades and back and sides of her neck while delicate embroidery ran along its length. </p><p>Through the bond came feelings that battled her own; rage and rejection that she repressed as soon as her resolution overcame that of her son. Her heart fluttered at the mere sight of him and Drogon snorted in what seemed like a weary gesture. He leaned back to give them room.</p><p>She walked over and met him halfway in a tight embrace. </p><p>“He’ll neither forgive nor forget,” Jon could tell. Dany looked up and shrugged it off.</p><p>“Good luck he’s not your mount,” she quipped. His hand on her cheek slid down to touch her swollen lip with his fingertip in a sultry manner that would have her burning hadn't been because she saw his eyes didn't spark with usual joy. <em>Something was off</em>.  "What happened?"</p><p>"I warged into Ghost," he straight out replied.</p><p>Dany pulled away a bit with a confused expression on her face as she blinked rapidly out of the daze. Whether or not he understood her reaction, he held his grip on her arm.</p><p>"Were you careful?" She questioned him, referring to the bracelet that thwarted any magical bond. He must have had it removed. After assuring her that he had been cautious, Jon led her by the arm to a near retaining wall for them to take a seat and began to tell her what was happening at home.</p><p>He began by letting her know that the children were safe and that there was always a watchful eye on them, be it Munda, Tormund, or Dalra. </p><p>"Dalra, the young archer?" Daenerys asked, raising an eyebrow tentatively. </p><p>"Aye," he answered oblivious of her suggesting tone. "There's something else."</p><p>The moment the information leaves his mouth, she feels her heart in her throat.</p><p>"Tormund did what?" she asked him bewildered. </p><p>"Some of those children know about us. It was only a matter of time," he tried to explain. </p><p>"Do you know what Tormund is telling them?"</p><p>"Whatever it is, they seem rather charmed by its apotheosis," he said with a slight hint of contentment she couldn't find in herself. He stroked her cheek and added: "They'll know. Sooner or later. Everything of it."</p><p>Dany gasped. "What will they think of us then?"</p><p>"They'll know we are only humans," Jon answered. </p><p>"Well, that's farcical at this point," she blurted out. She stood up and passed both hands through her hair. "We have to return. It does really matter if <em>they</em> just learn the truth and we face whatever it comes with it?"</p><p>Jon returned a look of displeasure but didn't mean to cross her.</p><p>"We will do what you say."</p><p>She scoffed, feeling themselves back again at another time. </p><p>"And you? <em>What do you say</em>?" she insisted. </p><p>He huffed and looked away. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke: "I only know I'm far off from being the same man who always did the honorable thing."</p><p>He didn't look in any way upset at blurting that out.</p><p>"Your plan with Yara. What made you–"</p><p>Before she could complete her question, he jumped out and stood before her, cupping her face and forcing her to stare at his eye. </p><p>"I've saved them all by giving away my love and my children," he put a peck on her lips.  A strong grip on her that almost felt like another apology. When he pulled away, he said: "Now I'm giving them war in the name of my love and my children."</p><p>Jon looked at her reassured. He gave her another quick kiss and returned to sit nonchalantly until she joined him again. </p><p>It still left her stunned to be in that situation after all they had lived through. It sounded as if they were both willing to make true what had been imposed on them through deception and betrayal. </p><p>She was willing to be ruthless with her enemies and him to retrace his steps –to take from his siblings what they had achieved at the expense of him. </p><p>Dany recalled herself when they had barely met again and how reluctant she was about their love and their life together. At a certain point she had just settled, believing that because he was the father of her children, that was the way things should be. She let him know this, aware it was going to hurt him. But she didn't care.</p><p>She didn't care about anything but her children then. </p><p>When Jon allowed her to behead Glover, her frustration converged with his desire for revenge and that union in the remembrance that their love could be stronger than the damage of their enemies.</p><p>Thinking of this, Dany reached for his hand, and tenderly kissed the back of it before bringing it to her cheek where she rested it as she closed her eyes. She knew that they were not doing well by dwelling on feelings of resentment and remorse, and at that moment a desire to convey to him all the love she felt washed over.</p><p>When she opened her eyes, she found Jon staring at her curiously.</p><p>"Come to Volantis with me," she told him. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXV)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Volantis</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>To say that the city of Volantis was impressive was an understatement. A vast crescent-shaped harbor, even larger than that of Braavos, provided the city with better access for the ships that supplied the abundant trade.  Parted into two halves by the River Rhoyne, the western half was newer and of more recent construction. The docks and ports for foreign visitors were located along the coast and markets, taverns and housing extend for many miles inland. To the east of the Rhoyne was the older part of the city, with sprawling noble estates and higher-quality housing. There stood the Black Walls, a large, circular construction extending for miles and including the most ancient parts of the city. </p><p>Although striking, amazement did not prevent Jon from noticing its uncomfortable climate and stench. In that sense, it reminded him of King's Landing; the sight of it was enough to intimidate him but it was not a place where he would like to stay long. </p><p>Nonetheless, he could see why Daenerys would. He remembered the words of the late Missandei. <em>She is the queen we choose</em>. That was her to the people on this side of the Narrow Sea, as was she to Jon when he had decided to bend the knee. </p><p>They get into the city not in a conventional entrance, for her presence was destined to stir up an uproar even though it was known that the city now belonged to her. Instead, after following a complicated system of subterranean roads, Kinvara greeted them at the Temple of the Red God. His heart skipped a beat at the realization that this was where she had ended up after her death.</p><p><em>Death he gave her</em>. </p><p>Far from being in the same state of bitterness, Dany seemed distracted in an almost childish way, holding his hand to keep him close to her at all times as they passed through a place that otherwise would have terrified him. <em>Shouldn't it?</em> He wondered when he saw the faces of the men and women in long crimson robes staring at him with sharp, black-eyed gazes. For the moment, he decided to play the ignorant and follow Kinvara and Daenerys' lead.</p><p>Her chambers within the temple were the place where she spent her days while she was here and not anywhere else.</p><p>"Lyrissos insisted that I take one of the residences within the Black Walls but I would never feel safe there," she explained as she gave him a tour of the place, keeping him abreast of how things were going there. "I spent a long time here, during, and after my pregnancy."</p><p>"They were born here," he said.</p><p>"We were reborn here," Dany replied.</p><p>She smiled and shrugged it off but he felt uncomfortable. </p><p>"Would you tell me about it?" Jon asked her. Although they had talked over it before, at least when it came to their children it was not always a cause for sadness.</p><p>Daenerys seemed to agree with him because she put a hand to her belly as a reflection and formed a wide smile on her face, making him feel things inside him that he couldn't explain.</p><p>"It was not different from Dalya's, albeit I lost my voice because of the overexertion," she recalled. </p><p>Jon had believed that she would not survive when she gave birth to Dalya. Had he been present the day the twins were born, perhaps he himself would have died of despair.</p><p>"I wish I could turn back time-" he began to say but Dany hushed his words as she shortened the distance between them and kissed him. </p><p>"Why?" She whispered against his lips. She kissed him again. "We are perfect as we are."</p><p>A modest statement, that was, given their current situation.  But he didn't miss the sparkle in her eyes when she spoke such words. It made him feel even more tender towards her. </p><p>"You know what I mean," he insisted. </p><p>She shook her head and hid her gaze for a moment before raising her eyes again to look at him with gentle eyes. Then he swallowed hard and tried not to dwell too long on the thought of that time.</p><p>"Come, I want to show you something," she told him before grabbing his hand and hurry him out of the chambers down a corridor to someplace inside the temple where praises and moans were heard that chilled his blood but, given her tranquility, should be part of the daily life there. They soon found themselves outside, on a long balcony that looked more like a gallery. </p><p>Jon's steps slowed as he beheld the peripheral view of the city, a different angle, and more captivating sight certainly.</p><p>"Don't you think it's beautiful?" she asked him as his eyes fell on her. Nothing was more beautiful than her, he decided, but he chose to walk forward until he was behind her with both arms on either side of her, silently agreeing. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Do you know what a wild Yak is?" She asked him with her hand still tangled in his hair while the other traveled up and down his back and he rested his face in the space under her chin to listen to her heartbeats recovering their regular pace after the exertions of their coupling. Thick pillows beneath her back supported their weight. Before he could answer, she continued, "They are a species of cattle north of Essos. Unusually furry fur from the cold."</p><p>Jon recalled from his lessons with Maester Luwin that a certain area north of Essos was as cold as or colder than the Northern Kingdom.</p><p>"Did you fly there?" was what he deduced.</p><p>"Aye," she said, placing a kiss on the crown of his head before he rose to stand on top of her to face her. "The north is still the north even if it is in the east."</p><p>They both rearranged themselves in such a way that side by side on their backs, they both faced the ceiling. He twisted his arm under his head and listened carefully to the things she had to comment on the matter. </p><p>"People up there have their main camp in a small valley, quite far from the nearest town but close enough from a small lake. Small houses were built at the edge of the mountain, to stay on the south-facing slopes. One day, while walking along the shores of the lake, I came across what I thought was the late winter lambing camp. There, pits had been dug to pitch their yak-hair tents. Nearby were small corrals made of rocks, which must have been for sheep and goats, judging from the amount of dung in them. Next to the tent site were small, round stone structures that newborn lambs were put in to protect them from the cold. I wondered myself why were they there when the winds were blowing across the lake right into the camp."  Her face turned to him. "But the wind also blew any snow off the slopes of the nearby mountain so there was always grass available for the sheep, even in the deep snow. The next morning, I saw it. The sheep grazing on the mountains, where it is not so windy and at night the winds die down."</p><p>As she spoke, Jon could hear the hint of wonderment in her voice.</p><p>"Since when are you interested in raising cattle? Are you abandoning your crown for a shepherd's crook?" Jon quipped. </p><p>Ridges formed on the side skin of her eyes and she burst out laughing. He couldn't help but smile too.</p><p>"I never carried any of those things, Jon Snow," she said before yawning. Her brow furrowed. "In all my life I have only seen two crowns. My mother's and Cersei Lannister's."</p><p>The way she said it made Jon swallow hard. Rhaella's crown was one of the last heirlooms of her family that they lost in order to pay for her survival and that of her brother Viserys.</p><p>When Viserys had nothing else to sell, he sold his sister.</p><p>"Cersei's was pretty ugly if truth be told," he remarked in order not to delve into sad and painful memories.</p><p>"As it should be any usurper's crown," she agreed. </p><p>A moment of silence followed before she went on to tell him of her brief journey north of Essos.</p><p>He chose not to voice out his bother on her traveling the continent with Freya lose around. It was one of the few lights, not-emotionally-charged conversations that they allowed themselves to have.</p><p>The few candles that lit the room were consumed along with their conversation until they both were slowly drifting off to sleep. Dany lying by his side.</p><p>"You'll look good in a crown," she whispered almost completely numb.</p><p>"Mayhaps," he answered.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (IV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"What do you mean <em>with a man</em>?" Daario sputtered, moving forward to face the emissary, feeling his blood boil with every word that came out of his mouth. </p><p>The other man snorted, lifting his jaw to put in other words, "Your queen's cunt warms another cock. Do you understand better now?"</p><p>Right there he lost it and his fist met his hideous face.</p><p>It was not the first time that he had beaten up one of his men. If he did not show harshness with his own, he would not have their respect. However, when it came to Daenerys, her comrades were beginning to notice that she was his weak point. And this didn't bother Daario insofar as they knew that no matter how much she affected him, he was still their fucking captain.</p><p>The emissary ended up on the ground with a bloody jowl, as Daario's shook his fist.</p><p>"That's what our informants have, Naharis," another man commented, more careful with his words, "She is back within the city walls and sheltered in the temple of the red god. <em>With a man</em>."</p><p>"A small but well built. A soldier, most likely. A <em>Westerosi,</em>" added up another.</p><p><em>It cannot be</em>, he thought. Wherever his thoughts went, they ended in the same conclusion. In the same name. Jon Snow. </p><p>"So what do we do now? Without the wherewithal Freya provided, our men will soon grow impatient and greedy."</p><p>Far from worrying that the Second Sons would begin to desert, Daario stormed out from the hiding place where they had spent long months waiting for Daenerys' return in the direction of the city and with a clear goal in mind.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"I'm not going to wear that," Jon snapped at Kinvara as she approached with the necklace in her hand. "One bracelet is enough."</p><p>Kinvara looked over at Daenerys.</p><p>"I'm not going to expose you in front of the council and Lyrissos. I can entrust the government of Volantis to them but never my family," Daenerys replied.</p><p>She wanted to bring him over to the council and to her affairs regarding her association with the Broken Collars but was not ready to expose her greatest weakness. Even if she passed him off as her Westerosi lover, there was always the possibility that it would turn into a rumor that would resonate all the way to Westeros.</p><p>Or to Freya. </p><p>"Please," Daenerys insisted. </p><p>He hesitated before nodding and allowing Kinvara to wrap the necklace around his neck. Dany was not lost on the reluctant look he still gave the priestess. After all this time, he was still suspicious of her motivations.</p><p>Other than the Fiery Hand attire he wore and the necklace, Dany saw nothing change.</p><p>Kinvara sneered quietly. "As long as you know who is under the enchantment, your eyes cannot be deceived," she explained.</p><p>"But Lyrissos and the other members of the order aren't going to see him, are they?" she wanted to make sure.</p><p>The priestess bowed slightly.</p><p>"None of them know who Jon Snow is."</p><p>She withdrew and only they remained.</p><p>"I won't understand a bloody word anyway," he grumbled, groping at the heavy and strange object around his neck.</p><p>"It's the tongue our children talk, didn't you bother to learn it all this time?"</p><p>Daenerys walked slowly towards him to finish fastening the buckles on his borrowed uniform.</p><p>"It's easy with them. It's always about getting something from me," he replied.</p><p>Dany raised an eyebrow cheerfully.</p><p>"These meetings are more like our children's prattles than you might think."</p><p>They walked together to the entrance of the altar, where he took the weapons provided by the commander of the Fiery Hand and stood behind her. She thought it strange to see him carry a spear instead of Longclaw and wondered if he knew how to use it. She supposed he did but hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.</p><p>As they rode the long streets to the Black Walls, the citizens of Volantis approached to greet her at the chanting of <em>Mhysa</em>. She returned the greetings with a polite, sneaky smile, without delaying any longer than she should have.</p><p>She would have come down to talk, as before, but Dany knew that would only unrest Jon. Every once in a while, she would turn to look at him and find him looking both ways –she didn't know if to make sure it was clear of any threat or because he was taking in the city– but it reminded her of when they trotted through Wintertown to Winterfell.</p><p><em>He doesn’t have hateful eyes on him, at least,</em> she thought.</p><p>This time when Drogon flew overhead, there were no shrieks of horror.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Her jaw stiffened and her lips twisted as she listened to this Magister Edeo and his complaints about the idleness that her presence aroused among his servants and how it affected his business.</p><p>"Improve their wages," Dany found herself responding to which he snorted complainingly and argued that a low production was already costing him too much.</p><p>Why were people like him in an order called the Broken Collars, Daenerys wondered. And why did she tolerate it? She dealt with the likes of him in Braavos. Why should Volantis differ?</p><p>She looked to her right side where Lyrissos sat with one fist hiding an amused grin. <em>Chains bind us to different masters</em>, she could hear him say. The members of Broken Collars were not freedmen but traders. Men and women who sought to replace the slave market but who wanted to continue to benefit from them.</p><p>The notion made Daenerys increasingly uncomfortable.</p><p>"Magister Edeo, what makes it possible for us to be here today and not hanging from the heights of the Black Walls is precisely the presence of Queen Daenerys. Braavos and Volantis are subject to our jurisdiction and sooner rather than later, we are going to go to Tyrosh, Myr, Lys, Slaver's –I mean–, <em>Bay of Dragons</em>. Someday, with the favor of the Gods, we might even make it to Qarth. What seems like a vicissitude today, tomorrow will be just an anecdote. I'm sure it will deal with your workers the wise way you are known to run your business."</p><p>The Magister stepped back in place and said nothing more. Lyrissos turned to look at Daenerys.</p><p>"Does Her Grace agrees?"</p><p>"Improve their wages," Daenerys repeated, this time forceful and determined.</p><p>Lyrissos raised an eyebrow and looked around at the rest of his companions. Neither said a single word against it and the Magister finally backed off.</p><p>The meeting continued until the natural light from the sun became dim. It was too long to stay there, so she apologized and asked to leave. Anyway, Daenerys rarely objected to their decisions knowing it would be only another reason to rise unrest. </p><p>"What do we know about King Freya?" was the last question she asked, and the reason why she couldn't quite act with a hard fist with the council. They all gave different answers, as they all kept various informants scattered across the continent.</p><p>Nothing seemed workable until Lyrissos contributed: "His fleet was sighted to the south, near Valyria. What would a madman like him do in a cursed land? In my opinion, he and his warlocks will try to find a way to neutralize you with cursed magic." He scoffed. "That lands offer nothing but death. Rest assured, my queen. Time finds a way to put everything in its place."</p><p>Far from assuaging her feeling of foreboding, Daenerys felt apprehension in her chest rise raw. Drogon was the last of her dragon children and for the moment, the last dragon in this world. If she were to make the choice right then and there, she couldn't put his well-being in peril for the undertaking of liberating Essos and keep it that way. </p><p>She couldn't lose another child. Any of them.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Your Grace, I'll ride with you, if I am welcomed."</p><p>She was about to climb into her saddle with the help of Jon when Lyrissos hurried down the stairs of the palace where the meeting was taking place. Her hand had lain on his shoulder for too long that Lyrissos frowned upon the gesture.</p><p>Dany grabbed hold of the laces of the bridle and hurried her mare to turn and push both men out of the way.</p><p>"Kinvara did not apprise of your soon visit," Dany replied.</p><p>Lyrissos just smiled.</p><p>"Wouldn't be half entertaining otherwise," he answered. </p><p>She didn't delve into it any further and allowed him to march with them back to the temple, Jon looking at her with a questioning look. Lyrissos didn't recognize him anyway.</p><p>Halfway through, however, there was an incident that stopped the trajectory of their retinue. As on the way to the meeting, the roads were crowded with people clamoring for Mhysa that the Fiery Hand kept at a safe distance. The incident in question appeared to be a fight between two groups. As by her order, the guards eased themselves with the procedure, forcing the commander and of course Jon, to go down and see what the commotion was about.</p><p>Lyrissos rode his steed to stand beside her. Dany took advantage of the moment to ask him a question since he seemed to have an answer to everything.</p><p>"What do you know about the people who run the affairs of the Iron Bank?"</p><p>Her ally looked at her curiously.</p><p>"Not enough, sadly," he responded vaguely.</p><p>Dany squinted at him.</p><p>"I don't respond well to expressions of ill intent, Lyrissos. You should know that about me," she admonished him.</p><p>"I would expect nothing less from the mother of dragons," he replied, smiling at her again.</p><p>If not for the fact that Kinvara trusted him, and that he had shown himself to be diligent, Daenerys would have started to question the nature of his motivations.</p><p>She settled back in her saddle, staring at the people who were shooting unintelligible cries to her. She smiled warmly and gratefully at them even though she couldn't answer everything they were saying.</p><p>"Your Grace–" she heard Lyrissos call out to her in barely a shout before she could turn to find the ridiculous but real image of Daario Naharis with his arakh on the men's neck, after having dismounted him.</p><p>All the spears of the Fiery Hand were aimed at him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Yara (II)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Pyke</strong>.</p><p>She pushed open the two great doors to the salt throne room and stepped forward amid the boos of her people and demands for explanations, just like the time she barely returned from King's Landing with the news that the Stark boy had been crowned as King and she, for some reason, had accepted it.</p><p>That time, the only thing that kept Yara's head above the water where her men would have drowned her, were the battles taking place between her own people for the lands within the islands that had been left uninhabited.</p><p>Thousands of green boys, ageless for the harshness of war, were nothing against hundreds of her best men and women. This time she would not be so lucky. The green boys were young strong warriors and thirsty for a taste of real battle.</p><p>Yara sat on her throne in the same messy way she always did.</p><p>"AND?" Maron asked, barely more than a child but hard as the rocks of the foundations that supported the fortress. He had an eye patch from when she herself gave him that permanent reminder for the next time he wanted to question a woman's authority. "What did the Dragon Queen say?"</p><p>Yara avoided laughing so as not to let out her still astonishment to the fact that there on the other side of the Narrow Sea, the most powerful woman in the world was subdued to Jon Snow's cock.</p><p>"Bring me a map. The biggest we have. And rum," she ordered.</p><p>Her men looked at her with scowls and complaints on the tip of their tongues. While her orders were carried out, Yara thought about what she had agreed with that pair of mad people. A part of her told her that everything could eventually turn against her like last time. The other was excited by the mere idea that it was true that they had finally realized that the wild side was much more entertaining and satisfying.</p><p>She descended the throne steps, grabbing the rum a servant brought in while others unwrapped a map of Westeros in the center of the hall. It was broad, necessary for delineating naval battles.</p><p>But this would not be a naval battle.</p><p>Yara raised the bottle of rum to her mouth and took a heavy swallow before pouring the bottle across the map, pausing before reaching The Wall and its surroundings. </p><p>She went to where a torch was and tore it from the sconce to carry it to the map and drop it there, letting the fire consume Westeros.</p><p>"I think the time has come to go back to the old ways, don't you think?" she told them, both arms spread at each side and a sly smile.</p><p>The Ironborn erupted in celebration.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In the next chapters, we will be dealing with Daario and the Iron Bank before we get home. I remember some comments at the beginning were asking for Jon to eventually go back to Essos with Daenerys to get a more tangible idea of her fight and that's what's going on here.</p><p>If you want some fluff to compensate, I left some scenes with the children in this work for future chapters, to kill the anxiety and to apologize for the delays:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293801/chapters/64196530</p><p>I hope you are doing well.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Shadows creep and want grows stronger, deeper than the truth.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I will probably update during this week with a short chapter that is just the continuation of this. After this yes, we return to the north with the children. Thank you for your infinite patience. Hope you are all doing well!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p><strong>21</strong>.</p><p><strong>Shadows creep and want grows stronger,</strong><br/><strong>deeper than the truth</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Somewhere in the Narrow Sea</strong>.</p><p>Tyrion spat out the bitter taste of the ale as he gazed down the rail towards the sea. He emptied his wineskin there and watched the yellowish color fade into the blue of the sea. Behind him, he heard laughter from the sailors and didn't bother to turn around since he already knew what it was all about. There was not much time left before he heard the shout of one of the sailors urging him to return to his work if that’s how it could be called.</p><p>He sighed. Although he had escaped fatal threats in the past, he was never this close to death. Only the ship's cook belief that his head would bring good luck for the journey across the coast of Old Valyria, bound for Dorne, kept Tyrion and his companion alive. </p><p>Escaping Qarth alive was only the beginning of the many tribulations that awaited him. Essos was not a kind land to his kind –nowhere was. He quickly found himself troubled for slavers wanted to sell his head or his cock (for good luck, they said) or to offer his dwarfism like entertaining, which was, in the end, the most amiable option. </p><p>Tyrion settled in the armor and mounted the sow. Pretty was her name, short of Pretty Pig. In front of him was already his waiting opponent, mounted on the dog. Even in the greatest lowness his life (well, maybe throwing his shit down the hole in a wooden box was worse) he had managed to sink even lower.</p><p>Penny rode her big grey dog, her striped lance waving drunkenly as the beast bounded across the deck.</p><p>As he lay on the ground, he saw not the blue sky but Shae's face smiling at him kindly –lovingly even. Penny was better at this than he is, at midget jousting and entertaining a bunch of drunken sailors. Truth be told, Tyrion had to admit if there was anyone on that boat who had it worse than him, it was her. She had pleaded with Tyrion to amuse the sailors and make them see they were part of it, part of the show to keep their heads cool in the midst of what seemed like an endless journey.</p><p>It didn't get easy with days adrift and Pretty's meat tempting the cook.</p><p>"<em>Sometimes I think the only reason you loved me was because I made you feel better about yourself</em>," Shae had told him later that day, in the dead of night. "<em>We were both scums. And in Westeros' eyes, so was the Dragon Queen, whom you loved until someone else loved her better. And you had to meddle to ruin them, right? You can't stand us knowing us of better than shit, right my love?" </em>she said, not sounding resentful in her heavenly voice. At this point, Tyrion knew that her cruel words were coming not from the real Shae (she died with a gold chain around her neck) but from his own mind, which wasted away as time passed. "<em>I wish I could warn her of you, but she wouldn't hear me</em>," she wailed.</p><p>"I'm not interested in Penny as a woman," Tyrion replied. "We cannot love what we hate," he referred to the obvious flaw that linked them both. Although Shae was right about something, he had always liked to sympathize with broken things. Jon and Dany were not broken things anymore when he watched them waltzing in each other. So, he broke them a little bit more, perhaps unintentionally.</p><p>Shae leaned closer to him, her chin resting on his chest. A sly smile spreading across her beautiful face.</p><p>"<em>You are wrong, my lion, those are the passions that intoxicate us the most</em>."</p><p>The scene of the cook rubbing his hands on Penny's breasts crossed his mind, according to him for good luck. Tyrion knew that their days were numbered for their heads to hang as decorative from the bow of the boat. They were delusional if they thought they would get to Sunspear in time to save all their lives –his, Penny's, and Pretty's which was more bacon than sow by now. The dog had a better chance than all of them put together.</p><p><em>We have no find a way to escape</em>.</p><p>"<em>We?</em>" she heard Shae's voice question full of offense and curiosity. "<em>Since when did you make this a we, my love? I pity the small girl</em>."</p><p><em>As if Penny had a better option</em>, he thought. Tyrion felt indebted to her and pity, especially pity. Her brother, another dwarf like them, had been beheaded to fulfill Cersei's wish to bring his head back to Westeros after he had killed their father and escaped.</p><p>Seven hells, what was going on in his head when he thought there was a hint of mercy left in his sister.</p><p>He would find a way, he always had. Then Tyrion would go back to King's Landing and take it upon himself to deal with Brandon, another broken thing he had sympathized with only to get his arse kicked.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He found Penny lying on a low deck, after what he assumed had been an attack by one of the sailors. The fragility of her form reminded her of a child more than a woman, and he wondered if that was the nature of the sailors' fixation for her. Tyrion would mourn her later, right now they had only minutes to take their chance.</p><p>They were close to the shores of Dorne, too far from Sunspear but close enough to the castles. The night was calm and the moon was shining in all splendor above their heads: there would be high tide and it would be easier to reach the shores. </p><p>"Penny, wake up," he shook her roughly without raising his voice too much. He had to pour water on her face to finally wake her up. She had a black eye and a marked neck. "We have to jump overboard right now," he informed her.</p><p>She blinked her confusion away but he didn't allow her long to hesitate. In the distance, he could hear the sailors noticing the trap he had set them.</p><p>"And Crunch?" she asked as Tyrion hurried her overboard. "And Pretty Pig? Where are my pets?"</p><p>Tyrion looked over them. He heard the commotion begin to take shape.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Penny," he said, tying a shackle to her wrist before pushing themselves into the darkness of the sea.</p><p>Once in the cold embrace of the water, a brilliant light came on from the other side. The noise came drowned out at them.</p><p>He had remembered a tale from Bronn about an assault when he was still a sellsword serving a company. One of those ruffians had been playing with fire, <em>literally</em>, too close to where the dead pigs that would serve a feast were hanging. The fat from these <em>pretty</em> animals could be lethal too close to the fire, and it had served as a warning on one side and an asset on the other.</p><p>Asset Tyrion had made his own that night as the cook finally cut Pretty Pig's neck.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Winterfell</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Her hands tightened the damp wood of the railing as she watched from afar those giddy women gather around the one who had given birth to her husband's bastard. And they were not feelings of jealousy since, far from esteeming Harry, Sansa had spent almost the entire course of her marriage indifferent to his affairs. What really disturbed her peace was the child who would never be more than a Snow, enjoying the health that her own lacked. </p><p>She didn't want to see her baby –that poor sick thing. His survival depended on Wolkan's care and an entourage of maids that were willing to take care of him as well. The bells did not ring the day he was born to announce a new prince, no one believed that he would survive the year.</p><p>Sansa could hear the murmurs and whispers growing like thorn vines on the castle walls. Harry was already known to conceive healthy bastards while with her, his wife, he had had his first sickly, rightful son. Some were even bolder in their assumptions, suggesting that this child was not his but of her sickly cousin in The Vale. </p><p>The gods were cruel in their designs, but she already knew it and expected nothing from those beings who had already abandoned her so many times.</p><p>Sansa tried to spend as much time as possible devoted to attending to the affairs of her kingdom. The large-scale problems the North still faced seemed minimal compared to the great grief that was left within her as a result of her pregnancy. Maester Wolkan said it was normal and that she would eventually recover, but every day it was harder to stand up and cope with the heavy weight of the crown. </p><p><em>I've endured worse tribulations</em>, she told herself. <em>I will get over this one as well</em>.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"What is this?" Sansa asked when a scroll was deposited on her desk by Maester Wolkan. She was studying the reports Lord Manderly had sent on the situation in White Harbor. As she had anticipated, the lower taxes at their port were a benefit to merchants seeking to avoid the heavy charges of the Six Kingdom's ports, and as a consequence, more commodities were reserved for the local market. </p><p>The scholar looked at her with a grim countenance. Earlier they had argued again over the queen's refusal to visit her sick son.</p><p>"Sighting of Ironborns on the west coast, Your Grace," he announced. </p><p>She swallowed hard but told herself that it had always been a possibility to consider.</p><p>"We have patrols in those areas, right?" Sansa asked him, although it was more of a matter to discuss with her general or with her husband. </p><p>"It's not just <em>our</em> west coast, Your Grace," he replied, and with a nod, he walked away, leaving Sansa alone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Arianne (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She bit the smooth skin of her knight as waves of pleasure hit her lower belly and through her entire body, leaving her in a state of ecstasy that she had learned to embrace and yearn for since her fantasies had concentrated around him –the man of her knight's tales. What had started out of a simple curiosity had absorbed every hidden part of Arianne's mind. And she had a rare fixation for what was beyond her reach.</p><p>Arys' movement beside her was abrupt as he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be there. She just rolled her eyes.</p><p>"This is the last time this happens," he warned as he got into his clothes.</p><p>Arianne was not so decorous. She covered her bare breasts with the silk sheets, but in a provocative way, with one slender leg outside of her as a source of temptation for her knight, and the memory of what he just had and would have again when she demands it.</p><p>"That's what you said last time," she reminded him, flicking her long dark hair to the left side of her neck and playing with the waves tangled by his hands. "I need your stories to spend my time on more than the affairs of the kingdom," she further commented, absentmindedly.</p><p>"You are a princess. That is your job," Arys rebutted. </p><p>Arianne smiled, remembering why she liked him in the first place: not just the carnal desires they sought to satisfy with each other but the light company of a good conversation. Well, at least until her mind wandered into places he would be scandalized if find out. </p><p>She heard Arys sigh heavily as he put his boots back on.</p><p>"The prince knows it and disapproves of it."</p><p><em>Of course, he will</em>, she thought. He was naught but a sweet, forbidden fruit that someday will rot as her excitement for him. And Quentyn has been nagging Arianne on taking a suitable husband.</p><p>"My brother is boring. A coward, I dare say."</p><p> "You shouldn't talk about him like that."</p><p>"But it is the truth!" she spat, tugging the sheets apart from her. "All he does is wait, believing that he has all the time in the world and that those around him share the same patience. Very soon our allies will see one simpleton in his simplicity, and when that happens, another Ellaria will stick a knife in his heart!"</p><p>What seemed to start out as a complaining comment, ended up welling her eyes with tears as she remembered her father's cruel end. He was a good man who wanted peace and quelled his desire for revenge for the sake of the people’s lives and it didn’t end well for him.</p><p>Arys leaned over and cupped her face, forgetting for a moment what he had stated when he left her bed.</p><p>"Your brother is wise as was your father," he told her in a soothing and caring voice. "All the people in my stories? How did it go for them?"</p><p>"No worse than it went for my father and Trystane," she replied, with a dull look, "And the worst thing is that no one did anything, just as he had done nothing to avenge Elia."</p><p>Before Arys could answer, there was a knock on the door and they both jumped, parting as quickly as possible.</p><p>"The servants' door!" Arianne indicated, pointing out to her furtive lover where he should exit, although by then it was no longer a secret that the princess kept the hedge knight as her personal bed-warmer.</p><p>Arianne put on a robe and attended to the guard who knocked at the door. They had surprise visitors it seemed, although she clearly never accepted such types of guests.</p><p>Before telling him that they might well fire the intruders, the guard warned him that they were private persons.</p><p>"Particular how?" she questioned.</p><p>"Dwarves. Two."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXVI)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Volantis</strong>
</p><p>It was her scream that prevented the spear of the guard closest to her from piercing Lyrissos to reach Daario. It was her stupidity in leaving Daario alive that had placed her in this situation.</p><p>It took all of her to keep her rage at bay. Her posture remained rigid atop her saddle as the guards had gathered on either side of her. Her eyes fixed on Daario's furious gaze. The only sound that could be heard was the neighing of the horses.</p><p>"What do you intend to achieve with this?" Daenerys asked him pointedly. Speaking the common tongue.</p><p>"I know it," he spat, seething, "I know, Daenerys, I know he is with you! I know Jon Snow is with you!"</p><p>If her first instinct was to startle, she hid it very well.</p><p>"Nothing will you gain by killing him. Let him go," she replied, tone dismissing. He responded by holding Lyrissos tighter. "If you hurt him, Daario, I promise you, your death and that of your men will be painful."</p><p>He burst out laughing.</p><p>"Do it. Call Drogon. Got me killed. That won't help your cause, won't be? People know it now. Not only me. The great and mighty Mother of Dragons sharing a bed with her murderer!" Despite his anger, he continued to speak the common tongue. "I have always been loyal to you. I swore to serve you until the day you died and so you said and knew!"</p><p>Her mare fidgeted, moving her as well.</p><p>"What do you want? Gold? Power?" she asked him, knowing what he would answer.</p><p>"You know what I want," he replied as if reading her mind, cocking his head with an arrogant air.</p><p>"<em>That</em>, I can't give you."</p><p>Daario growled and Lyrissos in his grip winced as the dagger began to graze the skin of his throat. At all times, keeping as calm as he could.</p><p>"You forgave Jorah!" her former lover protested. "You forgave Jon Snow. How am I different? I loved you, I served you well while I could and I still love you!" his voice marked with a whimper at the end of the sentence.</p><p>"You're unhinged, Daario," was Daenerys's only reply, her jaw clenched. As sorry as she was for putting Lyrissos in this situation, if he had to die so that the presence of Jon and the family, they had formed together remained a secret, she would not hesitate twice to bathe them both, him and Daario, with fire.</p><p>What Daario said next made her change her mind.</p><p>"A short but well-built Westerosi man. My people saw him, Daenerys. I know from the dwarf that's Jon Snow!"</p><p>Her fists tightened on the mare's bridle.</p><p>"Daario, let him go. Please. I'll give you gold. Your men need it," she insisted then, knowing she would have to deal with the Second Sons now as well.</p><p>"And what <em>I need</em>!?" he bellowed.</p><p>"You know I don't like being browbeaten," Daenerys snapped, trotting forward and pushing the guards aside, staying above Daario's height. "If this is how you will act–"</p><p>"Give me a moment," Daario interrupted. "A moment to talk. I'll let him go and we'll have a conversation. <em>You owe me that much</em>.”</p><p>One guard didn't flinch when she made to move him aside. That guard was obviously Jon. From where she stood, she couldn't see what expression he had on his face, nor would she risk to give away something Daario could see a sign to further prove his conjecture.</p><p>Finally, Daenerys found herself impelled.</p><p>"Alright then," she said.  </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Adrenaline rushed through him as if he were on the battlefield again facing an impending onslaught. There was a time –and sometimes he still felt it– when he wished with all his might never to wield a sword again or to take the life of a person. That before he had lost the most important thing.</p><p>When they returned to the Temple, moving from the stables into the long tunnel-like passages, they made sure to part ways from Daario and Dany's advisor so that he and she could reunite. The moment she took his hand and dragged him into a dark room, Jon clung to her in a desperate hug.</p><p>Only their heavy breaths echoed through the chamber.</p><p>"You're good?" he asked when they pulled away, cupping her face in his hands.</p><p>"I am. And you?" she responded, inspecting him with her eyes, and her hands traced his torso. No harm had been inflicted on him yet the same concern showed in her amethyst eyes.</p><p>He looked up.</p><p>"Kill him," Jon said bluntly.</p><p>"He knows about–" she tried to argue but it wasn't enough for him.</p><p>"I'm going to kill him then," he said.</p><p>Daenerys stiffened in a reaction that took him aback.</p><p>"Jon, please. Listen to me. He knows <em>who knows you</em> by sight."</p><p>"I don't care," Jon answered firmly. "I saw the way he looks at you. He wants you and nothing will stop him until he has what he wants." And with a stern look, he warned, "I will stop him."</p><p>Dany shortened the distance between them, his hands forcing him to look into her eye.</p><p>"Listen to me! If that person goes with the information, soon everyone will know and everything we have fought to keep guarded, our family, our children, our people...everything will be threatened!"</p><p>He couldn't believe what he was hearing, awakening in him a feeling of disgust and loathing that he hadn't felt in a long time.</p><p>She must have noticed it because she closed her eyes in a gesture that denoted abjection and regret.</p><p>"Jon, please, I beg you," she whispered, her voice fragile, brow furrowed, and teary eyes. "Trust me please."</p><p>He lowered his gaze but not out of outrage like a few moments ago but because he felt he was failing her again, being the man whose impulses had cost her so much that she had to reduce herself to a bundle of nerves and pleading to coerce him to do what he shouldn't hesitate to do. </p><p>He was humiliated by his own behavior.</p><p>Instead of pulling away, ashamed of himself, as he would have done before, Jon pulled her against his chest and kissed her forehead, trying to convey with her his unconditional support and trust.</p><p>He still felt powerless for not being able to act against this spiteful lover of hers –to whom Jon would gladly have rather dying a long and painful death simply for daring to want his wife for him. However, the rational part that still reigned his senses so often, made him put the integrity of the trust they had for each other.</p><p>"I'll be there," he said, kissing again her brow and remaining there for a long moment. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jon had to muster all the restraint in himself not to jump at Daario Naharis' throat at the moment he saw him again. The mercenary had that expression on his face that left nothing to the imagination –he fancied his wife.  And it wasn't his infatuation the sole reason for Jon's utter aversion but also the fact Daario was willing to go that far in order to earn a space in Daenerys' life again. </p><p>"You will not stand any closer," he warned as he traversed the room to stand in Daenerys' left side. She was sitting on a chair at a secure distance while Daario was standing across her. Jon paid no mind to the deathly stare the vindictive former lover of his wife cut him. Instead, he gritted his teeth when he directed himself at Daenerys. </p><p>"I will never hurt you," Daario said, like a promise and like a matter of fact. </p><p>"Not, certainly you won't," Daenerys answered; voice pitched with unwavering constraint. "But what you did today, I cannot let it past."</p><p>The sellsword cackled.</p><p>"I am a desperate man. I've done far worse for you," he implied, and then with a low voice, "Because I love you."</p><p>Again, he felt his stance stiffen.</p><p>Daenerys replied scoffing.</p><p>"All the men I've known in my life had wanted something from me. Viserys, Khal Drogo, Jorah, you, and Jon Snow. If I've learned something, is to be more careful towards your kind."  </p><p>Daario snorted. </p><p>"But something is different than I remember. Something changed," he challenged her.</p><p>"Everything changed, Daario," Dany agreed.</p><p>A moment of silence. Daario looked around and for a moment Jon thought he was going to discover the deception.</p><p>"Yes!" he exclaimed, "There are not Unsullied, Dothrakis, your other two children are dead as you were." Daario gulped. "All because of that imp. And because of Jon Snow–"</p><p>"Who told you Jon Snow is with me?" Dany interrupted him.</p><p>"My men."</p><p>"And how they came with such information?"  </p><p>"Oh, <em>Dany</em>," he laughed and stirred up Jon's anger at hearing him calling her that way. "Experience has also taught me a great deal about survival."</p><p>"Whatever they told you, it's a lie."</p><p>"I know when you are lyi–"</p><p>"That man was not Jon Snow. That man was my husband," Dany revealed, startling him enough to scowl though he tried to keep up with the farce. "Aegon Targaryen."</p><p>"Jon Snow. The man who killed you," the sellsword reminded him as if they were in the need of that. </p><p>"Not exactly," was Dany's answer. Jon felt his chest clenching with the same old memory of his deed. On the contrary, she dwelled little on it. "Don't you remember what I told you the time we said farewell to each other?"</p><p>"The day you dismissed me."</p><p>"I told you I was going to marry."</p><p>"Yeah, to form an alliance. What alliance can you make with a man whose family stole you from what's yours?" He frowned and looked at her disgruntled. "It wasn't an alliance, you fell for him. The all-powerful mother of dragons! You lost everything for a man's love! I didn't have you as a silly maiden, Daenerys."</p><p>At that point, his blood was boiling within him.</p><p>"Aren't you risking your life and everything you could've had for me?" </p><p>"I've never said I wasn't such a man."</p><p>Jon looked between the two and noticed what he was trying to do. He was teasing her. But not only that. He wanted to amuse her, dig out the joy from her as –he guessed– they were accustomed on their lover's days. </p><p>However, Dany's face looked solemn, as if she were well aware of his forethought intentions. She most likely was, having known him longer and deeper than him. </p><p>Jon remembered the way she smiled and laughed just the night before when they talked about the Yak, and all the times her face beamed with merriment as they recalled their children's antics. That belonged to them and nobody –much less this poor excuse of a man –would steal from them.</p><p>"You told me once, a Dragon Queen without dragons is not a queen," Dany's voice forced him to return to the present conversation. </p><p>"You know it wasn't about your power. I was trying to compel you. And if you had listened to me, Viserion, Rhaegal, Missandei, Jorah, and everyone else would've been today. Freya wouldn't exist. The people you freed–"</p><p>"The people you put in chains again!" Daenerys blurted out.</p><p>"I had no option!" he replied, forgetting all intended allure and returning to the maddening rampage that roused the guards and himself from their quiescent stances. Nonetheless, Dany waved a hand. </p><p>"You told me Daario Naharis always has an option," she told him more calmly. "So don't come before me with that lame excuse."</p><p>"Daenerys, have you seen that man? Have you ever stand in the same room?" he jumped forward but not enough to threaten the spared distance between them. "He almost caught you!"</p><p>"With your help," she reminded him.</p><p>"Because he got the power!" His heavy breathing rumbled through the room. "What did you want me to do? My men were going to turn cloaks anyway. That's what sellswords do. With dance at the song of gold."</p><p>Daenerys remained silent.</p><p>"Were you even dead?" he asked after waiting for her to answer, which she finally didn't.</p><p>He found his answer in her silence.</p><p>"He killed you, and you still love him?" he asked her, face contorted and sickened. </p><p>Daenerys got up with an undaunted face.</p><p>"I told you to bring Slaver's Bay back to me if you wanted to return to my ranks. But all you've brought me is excuses and grievances. I have believed you capable of greater achievements, Daario Naharis. Now you and all the men in your seedy company are going to be scorched because you couldn't understand that I was never going to be yours."</p><p>Jon's lips twitched with a hint of a smirk. That, until he realized that his wife's words elicited the same effect on the former lover.</p><p>"Then you are going to have to leave the city to ashes, my Queen. Because the person who saw your husband is among the children of Mhysa." </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She stood upright, trying not to let the tumult of emotions coursing through her wash away her temperance. She had to get out of this with Daario and her informant silenced.</p><p>"I don't mean to impose you," Daario excused.</p><p>"You are exceedingly failing," Dany responded.</p><p>"Because you are being unreasonable!" he snapped at her. "You refuse to understand that I am the only man who has ever loved you just the way you are," he argued, increasingly erratic. "Right now you could set this city on fire and I would never do to you what the man you married has done to you!"</p><p>She was in conflict. Not because of Daario's empty words but because of Jon's presence right there. Even if she still carried conflicting emotions regarding what he did against her, it was rather the consequences of it that had Daenerys hesitating –it was obvious that her belated reappearance had given away she's been somewhere else for a long time.</p><p>Daario laughed bitterly then.</p><p>"Look at what you do to me, and I still love you." He fell on his knee then. "I have no weapons, they have been taken from me. But right here, in front of your guards, I once again swear my service and my heart…"</p><p>"I do not want–" she was about to say.</p><p>"…I know how to start destroying Freya," he interrupted her.</p><p>She blinked, confused. "What?"</p><p>"I can't go with less than two thousand men of dubious loyalty to Slaver's Bay and bring the cities back to you but I can be the stepping stone to it."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"Do you think a madman like Freya can command this campaign?" he asked with an eyebrow cocked. "How did you use to call your enemies in Meereen? <em>Shadows?</em> You said you were in a war with shadows..."</p><p>At that moment, Dany regretted every moment they had shared together.</p><p>"Those shadows are everywhere <em>Dany</em>. Even here, in Volantis and in your so-called ruler council..."</p><p>Why did he insist on calling her that when he had never done it before? </p><p>"The way I see it, I'm losing. Why serve me?" Daenerys wondered. </p><p>"Because I love you," he repeated, his expression mortified. "I don't know how else to make you understand."</p><p><em>Right</em>, she thought. </p><p>She let out a sharp breath and clenched the fabric of her dress between her fists.</p><p>"What do you know about the Iron Bank?" she inquired. </p><p>"How do you think Freya is holding up?" he blurted out. Now he sounded encouraged. "I wouldn't start there. They have faceless men. More magic and things that don't make sense, but...there is a man." His eyes tightly shut as if making a great effort trying to remembering. "Tycho. Nestoris. Tycho Nestoris. I've seen him a couple of times around Freya."</p><p>"Your information is scarce like your time, Daario," Dany warned him.</p><p>With one knee still on the ground, and his elbow resting on the opposite knee, Daario looked carefree and insolent. Why did she ever find this attitude charming? She found herself questioning. </p><p>"They told me you've settled in Braavos. It makes sense, now that I know what you've really been up to all this time," he only responded. He looked at her with penetrating eyes. "Let me fight for you. I serve you more on this side than on the opposite."</p><p>Daenerys scoffed at the unsubtle threat.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"You don't like the decision I've made," she inferred as she settled her accessories down the table of her chambers. All but the bracelet. She was talking to her husband, who unlike her was less careful to remove the decorative artifact around his neck that protected him from the sight of his enemies.</p><p>"I don't," he answered harshly before immediately change his tone, "But I trust you," he let her know, though his posture was stiff with the same frustration that translated into exhaustion on her.</p><p>For now, a healthy distance kept them apart, he, at the side of the bed and she near the window. His heavy breathing and her sporadic sighs were their silent company.</p><p>"I have to find the person who knows who you are," Dany stated. "If I have to deal with Daario until that happens...so be it."</p><p>She could tell he didn't like it.</p><p>"And after that?" he asked her.</p><p>Dany sighed, pondering. "He will never allow me not needing him."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Bran (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>King's Landing</strong>.</p><p>"Absolutely not," Lord Ebber thundered.</p><p>Lord Bronn, Master of Coin and Lord of Highgarden leaned back against the back of his chair in frustration, looking in his direction in a silent call for help. Bran instead turned his gaze to the other lord, who lay in exasperation in his place, also waiting for a reaction from the monarch.</p><p>"The way I see it," Bran began, "Bronn has a valid point, my lord."</p><p>The discussion had originated from the former mercenary's insistence on allowing a greater presence of the peasants in the trade of goods, alleging that the economic failure of Westeros was specifically underlying its inability to develop a local market independent of eastern manufacturing. In contrast, Lord Ebber, representing the interests of the Hightowers, was horrified at the idea.</p><p>"What authority does a man have who until a few years ago asked us what a loan was? We have limitations imposed by the Iron Bank, I remind you, Your Grace. These are not times to explore possibilities. Without the work of peasants in the fields, the sole source of our lands will decline and we will not be able to meet the expectations imposed by our creditors. I ask you to be sensible, Your Grace."</p><p>"Sensible my arse," Bronn sputtered, "Look east. Do you know what they call us there? Pigs. Wallowing in our own misery because we don't know anything better to do."</p><p>"<em>Us</em>?" Lord Ebber sneered, "You are not even Westerosi!"</p><p>"Maybe that's why I'm more appreciated than all of you. People love Bronn of Highgarden!"</p><p>Bran remained calm as he listened to the exchange of insults. Bronn's ideas made sense, not because he was a particularly resourceful man, but because he had heard the right advice. Too bad it wasn't his time. He would not be the first or the last to suffer the consequences of thinking ahead of his time.</p><p>The great doors to the rebuilt throne room slid open, and Ser Brienne of Tarth strode into the hall.</p><p>Bran already knew of the news he was coming to bring with that rush and a stealthy smile appeared on his face when he heard it.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"The first time the Greyjoys raised in rebellion, it was thanks to the deployment of a joint fleet that helped put it down. Or so Maester Luwin taught me. I wasn't even born when it happened," Bran mused after Brienne had finished explaining the situation to the council. "Lord Baratheon will have to be consulted on the construction of the new Storm's End fleet of course. Order the return of the Riverlands and Vale fleets, which are besieging Hardhome –which we have ignored for the sake of good relations with our kingdoms. It won't be difficult considering that it is their land that will be put at risk otherwise."</p><p>His face turned to Lord Ebber, who had been stunned to hear of the new Greyjoy uprising. The Reach had already proven not shortly before that they were incapable of defending themselves, not even from their own.</p><p>"I will have to inform my lord about this situation, although I imagine that he must be aware by now..."</p><p>"Fuck your lord," Bronn snapped at him, "Fuck the Greyjoys. They're not taking my land and my people from me."</p><p>"We can stop talking as if this matter affects one more than others. We are talking about the integrity of the kingdoms at stake once again!" Ser Brienne protested.</p><p>"None of this would have happened had the secession of the largest kingdom of Westeros not been allowed," Lord Ebber muttered, clearly a dismissive comment.</p><p>"The North has its own business to attend to. Thanks to its separation, the Iron Bank has imposed no restrictions on them and its alliance with the kingdoms further north has allowed a lightening of the burden of the crown–" began to defend Brienne, still bounded to her to the Starks through her oath to Lady Catelyn.</p><p>"Absurd," Lord Ebber replied, glancing at the king, "If this turns into a war, we will have to resort to circumscribing peasants again, neglecting the work of the fields...that would be a disaster for all of us."</p><p>"So, what do you suggest, Lord Ebber?" Bran asked calmly.</p><p>All faces turned to the man. He shifted uncomfortably in place, pondering.</p><p>He swallowed hard and began to stutter his response.</p><p>"They want independence so they just took it, without asking. Clearly, they don't take us seriously –don’t see us as a threat. They underestimate us. An element of surprise is all that can save us."</p><p>"And what would that element of surprise be?" Bran asked.</p><p>"<em>Union</em>."</p><p>Bronn let out a thunderous burst of laughter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Lyrissos (I)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Volantis</strong>.</p><p>"Thank you very much, Kinvara," he thanked the priestess when she finished spreading a balm over the throbbing wound on his neck. It was definitely going to leave a mark, so he was hoping some of her tricks would work to remove it completely.</p><p>Lyrissos chuckled to himself. Although his work almost always demanded some personal sacrifice, he had never been so close to death as today. Oddly it had made him feel even more lively. Especially now that he has learned something new. </p><p><em>Jon Snow</em>. A weak point of the Dragon Queen.</p><p>"I would not say that it is her weak point but it is very clearly a sensitive spot. And you would do well not to play with your luck as Daario Naharis just did," the priestess warned, reading from his thoughts as she had done before.</p><p>Lyrissos chuckled again. </p><p>So, the stories were true. A lover and a murderer. <em>Interesting</em>, he thought, as he tried to make sense of it. He didn't have much time to think about it as the doors to the terrace of the temple where they had him waiting opened, revealing Daenerys and her guards.</p><p>He got up and straightened the ruined collar of his attire, smiling as she stepped outside. Lyrissos liked to be sprightly around her, assuming that the reason she was always unbending and serious in front of people was because of the unkind treatment she had received throughout her life. And because he enjoyed teasing her. </p><p>"The saying it's true. There are loves that kill," he teased, earning a raised eyebrow from her in response to his unsubtleness. "I'm referring to the jilted lover, of course. Willing to kill a complete stranger to get the attention of his lost love."</p><p>Daenerys sighed and looked down, crossing her hands in front of her before lifting it up again.</p><p>"I am very sorry that you have been exposed to such danger, Lyrissos. I sincerely apologize and believe me, I will take the matter on my own hands. The second sons will withdraw from Volantis immediately."</p><p>"They were never much of a threat," he downplayed it. He put his hands in his pockets, in a relaxed posture. "I am more concerned that you have allowed someone like him, with such important information, to just leave. I warned you that we should bear in mind that he was a person with valuable information."</p><p>Daenerys scoffed.</p><p>"Daario Naharis has always been a charlatan. I wouldn't worry about that."</p><p><em>Stiff smile</em>. Lyrissos narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"It's not just charlatanism to suggest that the Dragon Queen and the man who killed her are united by love bonds."</p><p>Her head cocked to the side.</p><p>"Who is suggesting now?" she asked, tense.</p><p>He settled in his place.</p><p>"Daenerys," he said, with a wide-eyed and serious smile, "Don't ask me to overlook what I heard. Don't ask me to blind my eyes to the truth. I'm not that kind of person."</p><p>They both held their gaze until she broke it and stared at the ground, sighing. Daenerys took a step to the side, leaning over one of her guards and raising one hand to rest on his forearm. The guard watched her, they both looked at each other for a long time as Lyrissos recalled that it was the same soldier who was marching with her with some greater confidence than the rest –which he had noticed too. </p><p>His image seemly associated with those who served the red temple. But then he raised his hand to remove the necklace he had attached to his neck, and a totally different man suddenly appeared in front of them.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Lyrissos listened carefully to each part of the story. At one point, while listening to the details of it, he began to form patterns on the table in front of him with the olives that were resting in a vase.</p><p>"Are you even listening?" a thick voice asked – or rather growled a question.</p><p>Lyrissos looked up to find Jon Snow's dark eyes glaring at him. <em>Intimidating</em>. For a moment he thought he saw the Dragon Queen herself reflected in them.</p><p>"Of course," he replied, raising one of the olives to his mouth. Its sour taste made him blink a few times. "No, the truth is that I don't care. Or yes. Well, one part matters to me and the other does not. I mean, my congratulations for keeping this secret safe for so long. The secrets, the longer they are hidden, the more they shine in the light. I have no doubt that one day, well, hmm, if I may say so, it will be quite an event."</p><p>He took a deep breath, frowning, and still staring at the olives.</p><p>"Lyrissos," Daenerys cleared her throat and called out, "What do you have to say to all this?"</p><p>This time he looked towards her to answer. His chin resting on his clenched fist when he spoke.</p><p>"I will admit that there have been conversations within the council about the nature of your disappearance and reappearance but they are all too afraid of you to even ask."</p><p>"Everyone but you, I guess?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and a subtle smirk.</p><p>"I had actually assumed that, like any <em>great</em> story about <em>great</em> people, your <em>greatness</em> had taken more than just your charm," he replied.</p><p>This time, she did not hide the small smile that spread on her face.</p><p>"But you can actually conceive–” He paused and looked at her lover, murderer, and husband. "Well, rather, since you can actually birth living children…it's just a bad assumption now. The council is not going to discuss succession issues anymore. One less problem."</p><p>"I don't want the council to know about my family. Not anyone. Not until the time is right, and I can ensure the safety of my family."</p><p>Lyrissos let out a small laugh.</p><p>"I'm sorry to oppose you again, Your Grace, but then you will wait your whole life for the right time." He reached for another olive and lifted it into the air, opening his mouth to catch it. "The woman who raised me, not my mother thanks the gods, if they exist, used to say that the children are not ours but of the world. And I am afraid that when those children represent more than, hmm, the living representation of the love of their sires, but the continuity of a dynasty and the order of this world...tragedies are not rare for kings."</p><p>"What do you mean?" Jon Snow questioned. "Dan–Queen Daenerys and I have a very clear goal. And it does not entail getting our children involved."</p><p>"Oh, but they are already involved. From the moment they slipped from their mother's womb into the arms of this world, they have already become involved in their parents' legacy. But look at yourselves. The latest scions of a great dynasty and a great race of people who once owned the world."</p><p>"I don't want to take over the known world, Lyrissos. I want to finish what I started."</p><p>"And what you started is, My Queen, much greater than yourself."</p><p>The queen's chest rose as she took a deep breath.</p><p>"The council is not going to find out about anything at the moment. Am I clear?" she stated.</p><p>Lyrissos raised his hands in the air, then shrugged, nodding.</p><p>"It is not me who is going to tell them. It seems to me that it is someone else who is putting this truth at risk...and I wonder, then, what happens now."</p><p>Husband and wife looked at each other, resigned.</p><p>"That is why we came to you. From the first time you introduced yourself to me, you came up with more answers and solutions than I would have expected from any of my other advisers in the past."</p><p>"You flatter me."</p><p>"Don't be. All of my other advisers have betrayed me, sold me out, or just made an awful job."</p><p>“…or killed you,” Lyrissos said with a smile, eyes wandering to the black-haired man sitting next to her. The man stiffened beside her as he glared at Lyrissos, again. <em>They share blood as they share a temperament</em>.</p><p>She tilted her head to the side.</p><p>"And what would you have done in his place? In the place of my allies, watching me taking down a city full of innocents for no reason at all. What would you do if today I decide that I can go without Volantis to safeguard my family existence?" she asked.</p><p>Lyrissos considered it for a moment.</p><p>"It doesn't matter what I would do. I'd rather show what I can do." He leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. "Westeros hadn't been in my plans. To tell the truth, that land is too chaotic for my liking. But I can imagine it in my mind, something much bigger than we could do with just Essos."</p><p>"I'm not interested in Westeros right now," Daenerys interrupted his rambling.</p><p>"Oh, but I'm aware that chasing Tyrion Lannister that day almost cost us a victory. It matters much what you do. There is no other Daenerys Targaryen, Dragon Queen, who can inspire the dispossessed to rise from their place of dispossession to fight with their own hands. You know that, right?"</p><p>"Don't do that. No...no," Jon Snow cut in, standing up to speak to him. "Dany owes you not a thing. If she wanted to, she could let this world burn in misery and would be doing the right thing. The only reason she's returned is because she loves and cares about her people." The man looked at his wife and Lyrissos saw that his gaze was filled with guilt. "They set her up. That day at King's Landing..."</p><p>"Jon, no," she started to say but he kept talking.</p><p>"I'm not going to let you or anyone else use her for your devices. People have chosen her. She is queen because those who follow her have decided it that way." And very firmly, he assured, "And without her, none of you stand a chance. <em>None of us stand a chance</em>."</p><p>Lyrissos rose from his seat as well, settling in place the loosened fabric of his garments. He had a couple of olives in his hands, but he did not intend to taste them but to play with them as his mind processed Jon Snow's statement. Or Aegon Targaryen.</p><p>He turned and walked to the railing and watched the sun fade over the horizon.</p><p>"Daario is not the first nor the last man to do this to me. I'm going to deal with him. But his informant is out there and I have to find him before he finds out that he has a secret worth gold in his knowledge."</p><p>Lyrissos's eyes fell on the city, more specifically on the street below, where the crowd of people began to clear until only patrols were left. A lonely man walked into what appeared to be a brothel.</p><p>"And the faceless men," he added.</p><p>"What?" he heard Daenerys ask.</p><p>"And the Iron Bank and King Freya," he tallied up their current enemies, tossing the three olives in his hands into the void.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (IV)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p><em>Look who has returned</em>, she thought to herself when she saw Jon entering the courtyard where the spearwives were holding training. If he was here, Dragon Queen shouldn't be far away. </p><p>Val walked over to where he had sat to watch the training. As always, he was brooding.</p><p>"Our people are getting tired, Lord Crow. How long until we return home?" she asked him, leaning on one of the huge columns that held the roof over their heads. Glancing over, she thought she'd miss the sight of all this.</p><p>"If everything works out well...just a couple of weeks more," he replied. He looked up at her. "Did you steal a child?"</p><p>Val looked over to where Kalea was playfully fighting another spearwife. </p><p>"She is mine now," she stated. </p><p>"You can't just steal a child," Jon told her. </p><p>She scoffed. </p><p>"Wasn't that the story you told us at first? That you stole a woman and her children from across the sea," she argued with a sharp stare. Her fists clenched in seething anger as she remembered what Kalea had confided her of those who claimed to be her owners. "They hurt her. She's a child and they did things to her no child should suffer."</p><p>Lord Crow closed his eyes regretfully.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he said, "I'm just asking because where we are going, it's a different place. Different people. What Jarl has to say about this?"</p><p>She has thought about him and tried to avoid doing it.</p><p>"I'm not asking his permission," she declared. </p><p>"He is your husband."</p><p>"We are not like you and the Dragon Queen. I cannot give him what he wants."</p><p>He turned to look at her.</p><p>"You are what he wants," he dissented. </p><p>She didn't want to speak about that, so started moving away from there. </p><p>"Daenerys couldn't have children. She believed so."</p><p>Val stopped dead on her track. She turned around slowly. </p><p>"But she clearly can. I can't."</p><p>Jon stood up and walked over her. </p><p>"I love our children. I wouldn't want it any other way." His hand rested on her man, reassuringly and it was the first time they made physical contact where she wasn't trying to seduce him. "But if she had been barren, I will have loved her all the same. I didn't know she had our children when I looked out for her. And Jarl feels the same." Val looked away to avoid feeling vulnerable. Fortunately, the sounds coming from the training yard interrupted the moment. They both looked over there. "Daenerys has one last task for you," he informed,  "When it's over, we return home."</p><p>Her mood soared.</p><p>"Finally," Val celebrated.  </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XVI)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Winterfell</strong>.</p><p><em>"... although we will maintain constant watch over our trade routes to continue defending our dominant position, I am afraid that the vessels that we reprovisioned this week did not return to the blockade. News from the west has begun to reach our shores.</em>"</p><p>Sansa stopped reading the missive coming from White Harbor. She didn't need to know more. </p><p>"So how do we proceed?" Harry asked from across the desk. "Don't answer me. I know. We will have to start rallying the men for war."</p><p><em>War</em>. A war against the Ironborn. Sansa let out a shaky breath. </p><p>"We don't have enough men," she replied, half a statement and half a rambling. "To say that it is a war is to give Yara Greyjoy too much credit. How convenient that she decided to attack now, when she was beginning to control the situation with the wildlings."</p><p>"We could resort to a company from the east. The Iron Bank could give us another loan," her lord husband proposed.</p><p>Sansa looked at him like someone listening to something really naive come out of a child's mouth.</p><p>"We don't need another loan and we don't need any more men," she replied. "It is not an invasion. They do not want our lands. The Ironborn raid and plunder to return home richer than they left." She took a sip of her tea. "They don't settle. The seas are their homes."</p><p>"So how do we proceed, My Queen?" Harry insisted, growing restless. He seemed determined to go to war.</p><p>Sansa looked at the map spread out on her table, taking another sip.</p><p>"We protect what matters most and what we can."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Leave what's heavy behind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>22.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Leave What's Heavy Behind.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>King's Landing. </em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Do you know who I am, Daario Naharis?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They had been left alone in the chambers of his grace except for an armored knight that stood tall by the King's side. The imp had been dragged into the healer's quarters to treat the wound Daario's grip left. Yet, Daario was considering the possibility of crossing the distance between him and his graces and cut his throat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Brandon Stark, king of the Six Kingdoms...The Broken King...Usurper," Daario went tallying up. Pretender of a King was he, more of a boy than a man himself. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I am the three-eyed raven," the boy replied. "That is why they also call me the Raven King."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario glanced at the banners that hung, suspended from the ceiling by a golden chain. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"And what does that mean?" he then asked. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I can see things that others can't."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"All kings say that," Daario told him, remembering both Daenerys and Freya talking the same. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>When he looked at the boy again, his dark eyes were fixed on his. He had not an expression and that unsettled him worse. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"My intentions are entirely impure," the boy King said, in a monotonous voice. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario's mind started flooding with images of her. His queen. His love. He remembered her kisses and the feeling of her skin against his. Her smile when he teased her at times when they were well into their coupling. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He shouldn't have let her go. He should have forced himself and follow her. She only feigned harshness because it was her way to cope with the constant challenges in her life but she was happy when she was with him. He’d made her happy.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Can you see Daenerys?" he asked –almost begged to know. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>His grace nodded curtly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I can see her as I can't see her. I can see the memories of her life but nothing else ever since her resurrection…just a short moment of weakness and despair."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His heart raced at the mention of that. He wanted to believe it but at the same time, he felt apprehensive. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"How? How is she alive? And where? Give me just that answer and for now, your city will not burn," he argued, knowing that if she received him again, he would follow her anywhere she would want to go, which he suspected was not far from where he was at the moment. If she needed vengeance –fire and blood– Daario would be there for her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," the King answered. He remained calmed as he talked. "The servants of the red god are not happy with me. They stymie my sight."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario snarled at him, "Then how do you know she's alive?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Because I saw her, in Braavos, a little over a year ago."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He made to get up from his chair and the armored knight stirred at the sudden movement.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Is she in Braavos?" Daario asked Bran.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Maybe yes, maybe not. We sent a person to search for her...and it ended up poorly for that person."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario cracked a smile. His fierce queen. Wherever she was, she was putting on a fight. If he could only reach her and make her see...make her understand the impossible situation he went through.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Do you know why I have summoned you here, Captain Naharis?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario nodded, glaringly obvious. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You want to get to her through me," he surmised, "I won't allow it," he let it clear.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Raven King stared at him with stilled eyes for a long moment, making feel again that rush of uneasiness. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'll tell you something that I never tell anyone. I'm just a means to an end. My Hand, Tyrion, understood that my lack of will was a very necessary attribute to rule, and in part, he's right –freewill makes mankind falter to the temptations of this world. It does not allow them to see the end...the goal. My duty is to look out for the good of Westeros even if I have to make certain sacrifices along the way."  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Although he didn't look like a King, he was speaking like one, Daario noted.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Daenerys is alone. Helpless. Mind and soul broke," he revealed and made Daario's heart hurt and flutter at the perspective of seeing her again –only him was there for her. Everyone else was dead or has betrayed her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"But I've seen her happy too," Brandon Stark continued. "Not much in the past, I'm talking about the future, Daario. I've seen her, clad in white, smiling, and holding out a hand towards someone approaching her." Daario started imagining her like that. Her hair and those eyes...no other women could come after her.  "First, I thought that man was Jon Snow." His hands closed into fists at the mention of that name. "Just for a moment before I saw you. Coming to stand next to her."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario could also see it. His queen. His love.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"There are pieces of the future that are granted to me. And what I see is that you are going to have Daenerys in your arms again."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario stopped the fantasy and returned to see the boy in front of him. Could it be? He'd seen rare things already...warlocks’ shit and so. Perhaps he was one of them?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"What do you want?" he wanted to know. Why did he want to give him Daenerys back?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Keep her away for a while," he replied.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Daario snorted loudly. </em>
</p><p><em>"I won't be able to hold her if she's decided to return and retaliate against her enemies.</em> <em>She is a Stormborn and with her, always comes the storm."</em></p><p>
  <em>The smile that appeared on the boy's face upset Daario.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"She is. And when she arrives there will be no place to hide," the King admitted. "And you do  know as well, although sometimes you forget. Don't forget the storm, Daario."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He clenched his jaw. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'll never do it."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A moment of silence before the King spoke again. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You and Tyrion must make a trip to Essos. Your destiny awaits across the Narrow Sea. And you both will return to Westeros, each one with it at hands.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"My destiny is Daenerys," Daario stated.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Raven King seemed to agree. His voice was now almost like a whisper.</em>
</p><p><em>"Go and find her, then, Daario Naharis. Maybe when the time comes, Tyrion's head will serve you as a gesture of good faith. Or perhaps not."</em> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>The boy-king was right when he presaged that he would have her in his arms again but it was not even close to being the ideal that Daario had envisioned.</p><p>It had been a little over a moon since Volantis, and just as she had commanded him to do, Daario appeared at Braavos with his men. His people were not too happy with the decision, especially since they had committed a transgression against her and they knew what happened to those who dared to transgress her grace.</p><p>There was no need to fear, he told them, as long as he, Daario, had control of the precious information that kept her at bay.</p><p>They arrived at the palace that was home to Tycho Nestoris and where he was sure Freya and his inner circle had once been. He didn't know how Daenerys would outwit the faceless men but he hadn't drawn when she ordered the siege of the property. However, while their task was at the walls, Daenerys had sent her people –a peculiar group of warriors who did not even wear armor and were rather crudely armed– to carry out the taking of the palace.</p><p>A poor decision in his opinion, until he saw them in action.</p><p>"Where did you get these people from?" Daario came over to ask her, once they had crossed the entrance of the property, walking side by side. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked radiant with her hair down with just four chains of braids –which he knew represented her victories– crowning her head.</p><p>There was no discipline in them and he liked that. He admitted her people were good warriors. </p><p>"They are northern wildlings," Daenerys replied, watching from afar the assault. Since Volantis they had only spoken a few words to each other. </p><p>Daario snorted, remembering seeing a couple of those people being dragged into the slaver's auction in Tyrosh.</p><p>"Tyroshi sailors use to hunt and sell them," he told her.</p><p>Daenerys glared at him.</p><p>"They'll get the chance to avenge their kind, then," she said, making him smile. He liked this version of her much more. The one who did not doubt herself. In fact, it made loving her that much more irrepressible.</p><p>"They remind me of the Dothraki. Killing like a sport–" </p><p>"I won't do small talking with you," she snapped at him. "Not now, may not never."</p><p>She was still angry about the incident in Volantis. She had a right to feel that way but a part of her had to eventually accept that he did what he could and is willing to do so much for her.  </p><p>If not for the existence of this other man, Daario might have her, he was sure. They were alike and it had only taken her a while to realize it.</p><p>"Where is he?" Daario asked her. "Is he hiding?"</p><p>Her gaze cut him in pieces with its sharpness, but she didn’t reply immediately.</p><p>"He is mad at you.” He scoffed and looked away briefly. “You know what they say: if love is real, there's nothing to fear."</p><p>"He's not afraid of you," Daenerys argued. Instead of putting on a fight, she simply laughed incredulously and glance over at the palace.</p><p>Again, when his eyes fell on her, he couldn't help but behold her for a long time. She only dressed in her house colors when she needed the reassurance she drew from the shelter of her Targaryen identity, yet Drogon was not with her. Daario would seldom see her like this in the past. </p><p>He wondered what else he didn't know.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>It had been quite a long time since he had killed. While that time in the dungeons he hadn't minded witnessing Dany execute her prisoners, it was a different matter when it came to carrying out the execution himself. And it has surprised Jon how much he was predisposed to the challenge and the thrill that it entailed when another man struck to kill.</p><p>Although his discipline came primarily from the training provided in his years at Winterfell under Ser Rodrick's tutelage, his long coexistence with the wildlings had taught him to rely less on his mind and more on his instincts during combat. </p><p>"<em>I don't want witnesses</em>," he heard Dany's order in his mind as he dodged the attack of a Braavosi guard whose face he would never remember. He missed Longclaw's lightness but had long ago learned not to depend on it exclusively. His long sword and the ax that Torigar had extended to him had been enough to face his opponents within Nestoris' palace. </p><p>Although the other soldier's sword seemed sturdier and had easily sliced off the ax head, so Jon also found the perfect angle to catch his wrist between his two weapons and strike his side again and again until pain forced the other man to retract, which he took advantage to steal the sword from his grip and in one swift movement, drive it through his ribs, into the rest of his rib cage.</p><p>"Now what?" Val asked him when she appeared from one corridor. Face and front, stained with blood.</p><p>"We have to wait," Jon answered.</p><p>"Wait for whom?"</p><p>"For no one." </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>His jaw clenched as he watched from the heights of a corridor outside the palace. Daenerys walked towards the main entrance, accompanied by Daario Naharis. They had yet to properly introduced to each other but Jon already felt he loathed the man. It wasn't just the fact that he desired Dany but his insistence on forcing himself into her life. Jon did not believe for a moment that his intentions stem merely from a place of loyalty, as he could say Ser Jorah Mormont’s come. Men like Daario Naharis saw a turndown as a challenge to keep on insisting.</p><p>"That is the man?" Val's question came from behind. They had informed the warriors of the plan to deal with Daario until the opportune moment came to cast him aside. "He looks like a man should."</p><p>Jon glared at her and she retired while chuckling. He returned to regard his wife. Jon couldn't blame Daario for wanting her and her forgiveness, the gods knew he's been in the same place. Somehow, he had avoided sympathizing with the sellsword because doing so brought back bitter memories that he tried to push out of his mind every time they peeked out, insisting that he was not far from having failed Dany worse.</p><p><em>Daario at least hadn't killed her –and probably never would have</em>.</p><p>Smothering those voices again, he turned and went down to meet them.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>When Daario inadvertently placed his grip on her arm, Daenerys started and tried to wriggle out.</p><p>"I am only securing your way, my Queen," he said in a mocking voice but at the same time reviled and annoyed at her reaction.</p><p>"Passage is secured," Jon's voice was heard warning from across the hall, at the exact moment that Daario released his hold on being taken by surprise.</p><p>She frowned, her heart pounding. There was a long moment where they only stared at each other until Daenerys took the first step toward Jon.</p><p>"The walls are also secured, but we know that won't matter when they show up," she remarked in a flat voice as she traversed the hall in his direction. When she got there, Jon reached out a hand that she took with her own, squeezing it tightly before lifting the same hand up to and above his wrist, looking at him with the same devotion she had always held for him since she had allowed herself to love him. But it was only a moment, they both knew that once they were in front of the scrutiny of others they should put prudence first. </p><p>Dany turned around as she settled by her husband's side.</p><p>"Captain Naharis, may I introduce you to my husband–" </p><p>Before she could finish saying it, Daario began to move toward them without haste, his face marked by an expression between disbelief and mockery – that same smirk he used to give Jorah.</p><p>When he was in front of them for just a few steps, Dany continued. </p><p>"All his life he has been named Jon Snow but his real name is Aegon Targaryen, son of my brother Rhaegar. You already know that part thanks to Tyrion Lannister." She took a deep breath and realized that unlike Daario, Jon was serious. "Jon, he–"</p><p>"I don't need to know his name," Jon cut her off. "I know enough about him."</p><p>She arched an eyebrow and looked between the two of them.</p><p>Daario let out a soft laughter. </p><p>"He's too little for you," he commented disdainfully, speaking to her about Jon and not directly at him. "But I can see that you still like'em brown-haired. Old Jorah had no chance."</p><p>Neither she nor Jon answered, which actually annoyed Daario. His carefree, mocking charm was his pride and had been ignored. </p><p>When his gaze turned serious, he spoke to Jon.</p><p>"So what name do you prefer to be approached by? Jon Snow? Aegon? Your Grace?...Kinslayer?" </p><p>Jon made an attempt to move but Dany caught him by the forearm in time.</p><p>"Mind your words, Daario," Dany warned him.</p><p>"It seems to me that you should stop speaking on his behalf," Daario replied. "A man who cannot stand by himself but through his wife, whom he has betrayed and killed, will never have my respect."</p><p>"Why would I want the respect of a disgraced sellsword?" Jon answered after he scoffed at Daario's attempt to position himself on higher ground. "You have no voice in matters that concern my wife and me. You never will. The time to prove that you were worth more than your sword and your strength came and you frittered away that opportunity. Now, as the miscreant you've always been, you force yourself into her life, driven by the fancy of striving for past affections." The surprise on her face was not feigned. "I've nothing to prove to a man like you, Daario Naharis. And if you ever put an arm on my wife again, then it will be the last time you have an arm."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After the tense encounter, they returned to the purpose of their visit to Tycho Nestoris, knowing that no matter how bold they were, anything that escaped the plan that night could end in disaster. For the same reason, Jon did not leave her side again.</p><p>By the time they reached the main chamber, the warriors of the free folk had already rigged the banker on the marble floor of his elegant palace. </p><p>"I guess the warning last time was not encouraging enough," Nestoris spoke in a suggestive voice.</p><p>"I'd say it was quite encouraging," Daenerys replied.</p><p>Five people were killed that evening when faceless men stormed the Sealord's home to leave her a warning. Three sailors of Salladhor's crew and two warriors of the free folk. Dany wasn't going to let their deaths go unpunished.</p><p>Tycho Nestoris smiled widely.</p><p>"I was told that the Mother of Dragons was of a flammable temperament," he said.</p><p>"Fire has nothing to do with it," Daenerys leaned down to say. "Tycho Nestoris. I, Daenerys Targaryen, sentence you to die."</p><p>At that moment, the fire of the torches that kept the place lit went out and they were plunged into darkness.</p><p>
  <strong>"If no one saves this man's life, no one is going to owe the red god one death."</strong>
</p><p>She was precise and quick in uttering the words. A second wasted and someone of them could get hurt.</p><p>The fire lit up the room again and when it happened, several shadows appeared, taking place next to each of the people who were there.</p><p>Dany's eyes searched Jon. He was still behind her but a shadow had also approached him.</p><p>They were not shadows, she noticed, but people in long dark-colored robes with hoods that covered their faces. Even Daario was held by one of them and knowing the nature of these assassins, he had decided that it was better to lower his guard.</p><p>"A queen comes to deal with <em>no one</em>."</p><p>Dany turned around when she heard the heavy voice that came from the side of the hall. From behind a column, a single gray-clad figure emerged, a covering on its head that barely revealed the person within it.</p><p>Daenerys remembered Lyrissos’ words that day.</p><p>
  <em>"Do you know why almost no one has access to faceless assassins? Because most people who want to murder someone don't understand that not every death can be handed over to the god of death."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I thought the exact reason was that their price was high. That is why only the Iron Bank could hire their services."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lyrissos smiled at her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No price in gold compares to understanding exactly what it is that they want."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"And what do they want?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Deaths to their god. Deaths worthy of their god."</em>
</p><p>Daenerys waited for the assassin to come face to face with her. He did so, standing behind Nestoris, lowering the hood that kept his face hidden and revealing his face to her.</p><p>A dark-haired man with a single silver lock came to sight.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Unlike the rest, the presence behind him had not held him down to place a dagger at his throat but had merely been on his back and let him know that any movement would find an appropriate response. Jon didn't like feeling beset by an unknown threat. He tried not to fear for Daenerys because any slippage could mean the sabotage of their plan. </p><p><em>"Deaths to their god. Deaths worthy of their god.</em> <em>Above all, they value devotion, so by having the favor of the red god, hurting Daenerys Targaryen is one of the last things faceless assassins are going to dare to do," Lyrissos had commented that day as they finalized details of the plan that he’d suggested.</em></p><p>
  <em>"I thought they worshiped the god of death," he started to object.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"For them, there is only one god," Lyrissos dismissed it, “Whether it is red, old, divided into seven parts or absorbed in a myriad of identities. For this reason, the members of their order abandon their name when they join them. No one has a name. No one is their name."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"How I defeat them?" Dany asked, to which Lyrissos shook his head in denial.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Not defeat them but neutralize them. And for that, you have to understand their game."</em>
</p><p>"A queen comes to deal with no one."</p><p>Jon followed the trail of a male voice that came from the side of the chamber. When the man appeared in front of Dany and revealed himself, then for a moment he felt that he would lose control if that enigmatic figure dared to do something.</p><p>"Two deaths the red god rejected and returned," observed the long, dark-haired man with a lock of silver, looking between him and Dany. "Two lives that I can assure I won't take."</p><p>Tycho Nestoris whipped his face at the assassin as if then he really began to fear.</p><p>"But all these lives here, more than one I could take as an oblation to the god of death." He looked in Jon's direction, or rather, past him. "To some of them, time is short."</p><p>
  <em>"What can I offer the god of death?" Daenerys asked Lyrissos, "More deaths?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jon stifled a laugh at that moment, thinking of the number of deaths piling up on her balance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No, my Queen, what we want is that they have to owe you. Not you to them. So, if taking lives is what faceless men do, make their actions turn against them. What would it the opposite to take a life?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Save one," Jon replied.</em>
</p><p>"No one is in dire straits. A queen challenges him to a pious deed," the faceless man uttered, crossing the wide sleeves of his robe in front of him. "My services have been arranged in favor of the members of the Iron Bank, for each of their names, we have been awarded a sum in gold and silver. If a queen dares to hurt any of these names, a queen must pay in lives, the same number of names that I have."</p><p>Dany walked a few steps until only Tycho Nestoris rigged between them was the only thing that separated the assassin from his wife. All of Jon's senses sharpened.</p><p>"I have given this man's life to the red god, if no one saves this life, no one would deprive the red god of his oblation."</p><p>The man nodded in understanding, with an almost imperceptible smile.</p><p>"What should No One do for a queen to spare him a life?"</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Val and the other spearwives pushed Nestoris onto a couchen and held him there while Daenerys explained to Daario that he should empty the banker's house of all possessions and leave the bare minimum to support himself. Documents and papers would go to the Sealord's house, where Lyrissos would send his people to study every network that the institution of the Iron Bank maintained throughout Essos and the Known World.</p><p>Before walking towards the exit, Jon said something to the banker while squeezing his shoulder.</p><p>"I would start to make up for everything by demanding with interest the due of the loan you rendered to Queen Sansa Stark of Winterfell."</p><p>And with that, they left the man screaming that at least he’d be untied.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"What was that, Daenerys?" Daario asked when they were outside the palace.</p><p>"A game," Dany replied, voice stern.</p><p>She was next to her husband. <em>Snow</em>, as he decided he was going to call him, would not advance a single step if not with her by his side.</p><p>Thinking of her with another man, a man who was also her murderer, and seeing it happening before his eyes did things to his mind that he couldn't explain.</p><p>"And now what?" he asked, trying not to think anymore about the fact that he couldn't reach her. He wouldn't have her in his arms again.</p><p>Daenerys stopped dead in her tracks. Her killer of a husband as well. She looked at Daario with a hard scowl. </p><p>"What else do you want? You live, you serve my cause, your men will have their gold. What else do you want?"</p><p>"Mind your response," Snow almost barked his warning like a rabid dog.</p><p>Daario would have answered that he wanted <em>her</em> but that he has left widely clear. </p><p>"Will you return to Volantis?" Instead, he made another question.</p><p>"It's not of your concern where we are going now," Snow again interfere in their conversation. At this point, if it was any other people, Daario would already be on his throat. But when it came to the husband of the woman he loved, he just swallowed the insult on the tip of his tongue and retreat. </p><p>"Stupid question of mine," Daario held up his hands, glancing at the hard-faced and fierce women who passed by. Their men watched them lustfully. "Assuming the next destination was in the confines of Essos."</p><p><em>Westeros. Daenerys and her husband would go back to that bloody continent</em>.</p><p>Daenerys's face fell as the thought that also crossed Daario's mind, reached her. Here at Essos, it would be more difficult to control the information he was holding.</p><p>She gave her husband a look that said she was sorry. Daario had never seen this Daenerys so weakened and he despised her for it.</p><p>"Daario," she cleared her throat and stood up straight, looking into his eyes seriously. "There is something else you should know." He saw her shaking as she took a breath. "We have children. Jon and I."</p><p>Daario felt that sensation of being slapped again.</p><p>"You told me you couldn't," it sounded almost like a grievance on his part.</p><p>"I also believed that until I had them," she said.</p><p>Daario looked at Jon Snow, whose eyes had darkened.</p><p>Of course he was upset by this revelation. Now they were not only united by an absurd feeling of emotional dependence but there was something material and real between the two. Children. Bloody children.</p><p>Something that he was not able to give her.</p><p>"I guess that's the way it works for you after your family has fucked each other for centuries," he scoffed.</p><p>He couldn't see it coming in time because he was lost in his own anger, so he only knew it when the blind pain on his face came from Jon Snow's fist. </p><p>Daario would have stood up and cut off his head but then he closed his eyes and the image returned to his mind, the one that the Raven King had shown him. Daenerys dressed in white, holding out a hand to him for they were together.</p><p>They were going to be together. </p><p>"<em>First, I thought that man was Jon Snow...Just for a moment before I saw you. Coming to stand next to her</em>."</p><p>Daario stood up, holding his bleeding nose as he watched Daenerys contain her husband's fury, intensely whispering words he couldn't discern. He hadn't noticed it before but now it was clear in front of his eyes. As much as they tried to hide it...there was still the mark of a past where things ended badly for both of them.</p><p>He was then convinced that it was only a matter of time.</p><p>Daario walked back to them and pretended he had no desire to slice his dagger through the heart of the man who had taken everything from him.</p><p>He held out a hand in a gesture of feigned peace.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XXXIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>A healer was tending to the wound on his fist when Dany knocked on the door and walked into their quarters. She had changed into her nightgown, and her hair was loose in long waves that slid down her shoulders, breasts, and back. He cursed in his thoughts. Even when he was certainly not happy with her decisions, he couldn't help but lust for her.</p><p>The healer left them alone.</p><p>"It's done?" he asked, not meeting her eyes.</p><p>"Yes," she replied.</p><p>
  <em>Lyrissos, in an abrupt movement, walked back to stand in front of the terrace railing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Here you were, weren't you? A moment of intimacy that you thought was only yours," he said, in a mocking tone. "Down there, right now, is the brothel rush hour. Surely the beautiful view of the city above did not allow you to see that their misery is still peeking out from under your noses."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dany got up from her chair and walked over to see what Lyrissos was pointing at. When he turned around, she had a rueful expression.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Was she a whore? The one who informed Daario and his men?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jon also felt apprehensive.</em>
</p><p><em>"The Second Sons were supposed to be banned from the city. I like to believe that I do my job well, Daenerys. Therefore, it is more likely that the information has reached them and not that they have had direct contact with it," the counselor replied</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Daenerys turned around again and saw her shoulders sag with realization. Lyrissos must have noticed because he immediately said,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'll deal with it if your Grace will allow me and," the man looked up at Jon, "His Grace."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No," Dany stated. "I know I said that if it was necessary to raze the city to keep my secret I would but...not like this. It is not necessary to slay all the whores in a brothel for something that is only a danger in the hands of Daario and his men."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Most likely, if Daario's men know about it, and they're already deserting him..." Jon didn't want to be straightforward about it. But he was trying to make her understand that it was too late to control it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No," Dany insisted again. "No, if we act now. This secret has only been out for less than a day I..." she rubbed her brow, upset, "I'm going to control Daario and his men. First with gold and then, I'm going to take them away from here, I'm going to bring them back to Westeros with me."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Daenerys," Jon warned.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No, no, no," Lyrissos interrupted him, pointing a finger at him. "The queen is right. It will be a classic Ameron move."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jon and Dany looked at him like he was speaking another language, when in fact he was fluent in the common tongue.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Prince Ameron, the black," he explained, seeing them lost. "He was a great commander, one of the best. And an even better writer. I see not much Valyrian literature reaches Westeros. We're talking about deceiving the enemy. Lure them into a false sense of security. I can already see it. Two birds with one stone."</em>
</p><p>Jon returned to their quarters in Braavos and watched as she approached him, kneeling to settle between his legs. He was sitting on a solitary chair. </p><p>She cradled his face and looked into his eyes, before bringing her face close to his and kissing him long and passionately until they were breathing heavily against each other's mouths. Then her hands slipped between his thighs to undo the ties of his breeches, moment he stopped her.</p><p>"What are you doing?" he asked her. </p><p>She blinked rapidly, confused. </p><p>"I want to make you feel good," and she moved upwards to kiss him again. </p><p>"Daenerys," he halted her again.</p><p>They fell into a dead silence for a moment, meeting each other's eyes until in a moment of realization, she became aware of what she was doing.</p><p>"Sorry," she started to apologize as she got up, but at that very moment, Jon pushed her onto his lap. An arm around her waist and a hand caressing her cheek, forcing her to look at him.</p><p>But she had closed her eyes, full of shame and regret he could tell.</p><p>Dany leaned her head against his neck and stayed that way for a long time, while he smoothed the locks of her hair.</p><p>"Do you think I would have liked her? Ygritte?" she blurted out.</p><p>Jon frowned.</p><p>"Why do you think of her?"</p><p>"Because you loved her."</p><p>"Yes, I did. Did you love Daario?"</p><p>She took a deep breath.</p><p>"I thought I cared, but not really." He could hear the tiredness of her voice. "I'm sorry to put you through all this."</p><p>And it was only the beginning, he knew. As if the path of difficulties never came to anything but more obstacles in front of them. </p><p>"We'll do it together," he promised her, kissing her crown. "And I could move on from Ygritte. I will never move on from you."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"No, <em>Tamu</em>! Papa!" Dalya grumbled as she kicked against the ground with her heavy boots as if she was taking small leaps. Her snow-white face was now reddish as if it had been burned by the wind, which would be impossible given that this as the two elders had inherited their mother's fire resistance, and which probably burned or caused some very serious injury to anyone else, in them, it seemed only to cause slight annoyance. In Dalya's case, neither the cold nor the fire seemed to disturb her.</p><p>That didn't stop her from having big and loud outbursts. </p><p>Tormund sighed and looked at the bench outside Jon's cabin where Missella was sitting cross-legged on it, concentrated on what Dalra was explaining about arrows and how to set them.</p><p>"Missella," Tormund called out, to which the girl with the purple eyes and dark curls looked up. "Do that butterfly thing, it might distract her," he asked.</p><p>Missella took one of the arrow tails she had built and held it up in the air.</p><p>"Look, Dalya, a butterfly!"</p><p>For a few minutes, it was enough for Dalya to stop whining and put a fist in her mouth as she watched the arrow feathers dance in the air as her sister waved them.</p><p>But then Jorian appeared to distract Missella.</p><p>"Look what I can do!" the boy spoke to both his sister and Dalra. He began to whistle, a skill they had been practicing ever since he watched Tormund do it.</p><p>Barely a rumor came from the boy's pursed lips but it was enough for Missella to lose interest in entertaining her little sister and to listen to what her brother was saying.</p><p>Dalya started whining again, this time rubbing her face in a clear sign that in addition to missing her Papa, she was tired.</p><p><em>Fucking Crow and his Dragon Queen</em>, he cursed as Dalya finally allow him to hold her, patting her back reassuringly. </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In the next chapter they'll reunite with the children. And don't worry, Daenerys is never going to be separated from her human children for so long ever again.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Come up to my lighthouse for I have something I wish to say. It can wait for a moment; well in fact it can wait all day. I just wanted to bring you up here so you could have the chance to see the beauty of this situation that you could share with me.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I intended the follow events to happen in one single chapter (just as I intended for the plot in Essos) and fuck it, I just couldn't. Ideas and transition scenes kept coming to my head. </p><p>This chapter then focuses on the return to Wolves Den. The next one will focus on the situation in the rest of Westeros and the establishment of the conflict in Wolves Den that will conclude in Chapter 25, which will be the last one dealing with a certain character that everyone hates. LOL.</p><p>Please enjoy it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>23.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Come up to my lighthouse for I have something I wish to say. It can wait for a moment; well in fact it can wait all day. I just wanted to bring you up here so you could have the chance to see the beauty of this situation that you could share with me.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Daario (VII)</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Two long lines of soldiers were posted on either side to greet Daenerys when she visited the Second Sons camp. Her men didn't trust her, but be that as it may, she was the queen and they had to respect her (the dragon behind her was another great reminder of this).</p><p>She appeared alone, there was no husband in sight. That gave Daario the hint that something didn't seem quite right: Jon Snow's suspicious nature wouldn't have let her come alone as long as a man like him was around.</p><p>When Daenerys had approached him, he bowed his head, looking at her straight in the eye.</p><p>"My queen, your orders were carried out as requested," he informed. His eyes fed on the sight of her while her expression remained stoic.</p><p>She looked from both sides of him at her second and third in command.</p><p>"I'd like to talk to you," she said. "With all of you," she emphasized.</p><p>They walked to a meeting tent, which was placed in the center of the camp. Scantily clad women and a few servants awaited, but Daenerys sent them all away.</p><p>"I came to discuss the terms of our alliance," she reported nonchalantly, her gaze drifting over each one of them. "I would be a naive woman if I think you are going to just settle for patrolling the city. The last time I gave you said task, you defected me."</p><p>His subordinates glanced at him, waiting for his response and perhaps not wanting to incur into affronts that could end with the dragon devouring them.</p><p>"We are loyal to Your Grace," Daario reiterated, feeling slightly annoyed at her continued reluctance.</p><p>Daenerys remained impassive, rejecting all his attempts to bridge the gap between them.</p><p>Faced with this reluctant attitude of hers, Daario took a more defiant stance almost instinctively. </p><p>"As long as you are loyal to us," he finished his sentence. </p><p>An inquisitive brow rose.</p><p>"Who else knows?" she asked.</p><p>The corner of Daario's lips lifted into a boastful grin. He took a few steps forward in her direction, maintaining eye contact as he approached and invaded her personal space. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Daenerys never let others intimidate her, so he was glad when she didn't step back and instead kept her eyes on his. He deliberately snaked his arm to grab the flagon placed behind her on the table and poured its contents into two cups. He drank from one and then the other.</p><p>Of course, information as important as that would be a reason for constant mistrust from now on. Unfortunately, until she understood that he was to stay, he would have to use it to safeguard his survival and that of his men.</p><p>“I am loyal to you, Daenerys,” he stated, pointing at his heart in an exaggerated and playful manner, “Until the end of my days," he swore, again and again. "But I'd be a very stupid man if, amidst this tension, I just set the boat free from its moorings, right?" he glanced at his men and then again at Dany. "Each turn of the moon, I will send a message to two different recipients. In that message, I will say that I am alive and faithfully serving my queen. If in some way or another, that message does not reach its destiny in, let's say, a considerable time... then two messages with one same content will be delivered to two different recipients of who we will not waste our time talking about for neither you nor I are naive people." He pondered his words, blinking several times thoughtfully. "Well, that is until matters of the heart are compromised, right?"</p><p>That last sentence seemed to settle her understanding, but she did not abandon her reserve. After all, they both had that in common: they were willing to go to the last consequences for their hearts.</p><p>Daario offered a hand again, in what for now was a gesture of surrender, the same one he offered Jon Snow earlier –and which her murderer had flatly rejected. She instead frowned as she looked down at his outstretched hand before giving in and taking what he offered her.</p><p>She walked around him to take a seat.</p><p>"So, what are your terms?" she asked them.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XXXIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Braavos</strong>.</p><p>Captain Salladhor came with the news that the route to Hardhome had been unblocked, which meant time has come for them to finally return home.  </p><p>An envoy of Lyrissos would seize the power of Braavos and act on her behalf seeing to it that King Freya's ties with the city were definitively cut, speaking of who they knew little about apart from the fact that he still had de facto control over Slaver’s Bay.</p><p>She felt utterly defeated in this sense –free those she failed to protect the first time was the reason for coming all the way here in the first place. And she failed again.</p><p>In the days before their journey, the warriors have celebrated a ceremony in honor of the fallen in the private dock behind the Sealord's manor.</p><p>She’d fallen into a pessimistic mood that day and after it, Jon had confronted her. </p><p>
  <em>"How can you even think that? You have two of the most powerful cities in Essos under your control. You have earned the favor of faceless men. There are people here who still love and respect you. And all of this you accomplished while you were still thinking about home." </em>
</p><p>In that he was correct; not everything had been about her affairs at Essos. In her extensive time between one thing and another, Dany had taken it upon herself to procure certain commercial dealings that could boost Hardhome and its nascent mercantile economy. That was one of the reasons for her brief visit to northern Essos.</p><p>She and Jon had a very clear design of things. While Hardhome would be the visible face of the soaring activities and the life beyond the wall, Wolves Den would remain their home and shelter against the world. For that reason, they would need to garrison the village. </p><p>Again, the sting of bitterness pierced her stomach at the memory of hearing Daario’s terms.</p><p>"<em>Wherever our queen goes, we go</em>,” he’d said, with a clarity and assurance that denoted not being willing to receive a refusal. “And don’t worry about your secret, <em>Dany</em>. I know how to keep a secret,” he had reminded her mostly in a threatening way.</p><p>"And an ambush?" Jon suggested after quietly venting his anger. "I could summon our best warriors as I did against Glover –reduce his Second Sons and himself to nothing but dust."</p><p>"Then <em>they</em> will know he is no more and they will run to spill out the information," she explained. She ran her hands through her hair, breathing deeply. "We need to dismantle the network he'd built with out secret."</p><p>"He has betrayed and murdered his fellow captains, in the past," Jon recalled what she has told him some time ago. "If his men have not done the same to him, it is because he has found a way to keep them loyal."  </p><p>She stared at him.  </p><p>"I think it's because he always finds a way out alive."</p><p>"Not this time," Jon said with a solemn face. "This time he's not going to get out of this alive," he promised.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Saying goodbye to her children had been one of the hardest experiences she had ever gone through, and Dany knew all too well about it. Saying goodbye to Drogon again had not been easier than before. Her heart shattered every time she had to make that choice, leave her dragon child –her last and sole dragon child– to return to the children who had come from her womb.</p><p>Drogon hadn't reacted much differently. He was saddened and angry at being left alone again.</p><p>Dany had moved closer to him, tears of grief streaming down her face as she reached out to try to caress his hot scales, but he had unleashed his anger –roaring at his mother. He then spread his wings and set off for an unknown course, leaving Daenerys with a void in her chest.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XL)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"What is that one?" Dany asked as soon as Jon brought to the surface what at first glance he could tell was a salmon. The closer they were to home, the more abundant was the shoal of salmon.</p><p>"Your supper," Jon quipped in response.</p><p>Though she was busy with her own activities - she had sat on the deck of The Valyrian to read while he, Captain Salladhor, and other sailors fished - she occasionally asked the names of the fish they drew from the sea. The closer they were to the cold waters of the North, the better the catch.</p><p>"Salmon," Salladhor replied at his side. "How are you certain the sellswords will not raise arms against you, in your own home?" He asked in a curious tone about Daario Naharis. To the Lyseni Captain, it seemed a very risky move to bring the Second Sons to the North. "You must not trust sellswords, Little Dany," Salladhor warned her.</p><p>"Aren't you a pirate?" her rebuttal was pitched with humor.</p><p>Salladhor cackled.</p><p>"I got a good deal. How are you going to convince your sellswords that you are offering them a good deal?"</p><p>"Daario Naharis doesn't want a good deal. He wants Dany," Jon interrupted as he cut the gills of the animal, assisted by a sailor. The incessant flopping of the fish before passing out made drops of blood splatter at Daenerys' face. </p><p>"The way I see it then, there is only one way to deal with it," then Salladhor said.</p><p>"Lyrissos has to control the situation in Essos," Daenerys reminded him, indifferent to the splashes on her face until Jon handed her a cloth to wipe herself off. </p><p>The Valyrian's captain then nodded in understanding. Not far from there the other boats were moving, carrying the soldiers of Naharis and Daario himself to the North. The notion of going home now felt bittersweet.</p><p>"How did you manage to negotiate with the faceless men?" The pirate changed the subject.</p><p>Daenerys looked at Jon before answering.</p><p>"I doubled their price."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p><br/>When he returned to the cabin he shared with Daenerys, she was sitting on the floor in front of her chest rummaging through her things. Jon closed the door behind him and took two steps forward until he tripped over something thrown on the floor. He bent down to see it was a book.</p><p>"What is this?" he asked her.</p><p>Dany turned around from her place to see what he was referring to.</p><p>"A book," she replied.</p><p>It didn't seem to be the same one she was reading earlier on deck.</p><p>"And where did it come from?"</p><p>"Lyrissos."</p><p>Jon stared at the object in his hands with a grimace when he saw that its contents were written in the Valyrian tongue.</p><p>"Is it that every man who knows you is doomed to fancy you?" he questioned, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing Daenerys and her chest.</p><p>Dany looked up briefly, a half-smile spreading across her face.</p><p>"He didn't send it to me. He sent it to you."</p><p>Jon frowned and returned his eyes to the book. It was, without doubt, one of the most delicate objects he'd ever seen, and even the broad assortment from the collection of Aemon in Castle Black had looked so fine.</p><p>"It's in High-Valyrian," he commented, ignoring her suggestive tone.</p><p>Dany shrugged. </p><p>"You'll have to learn it," she said.</p><p><em>You will have to teach me</em>, he was about to respond but was distracted by the piece of parchment in her hands.</p><p>Jon set the book aside.</p><p>"Why do you keep that?" he asked referring to the record she kept.  No day went by without at least she'd written a line.</p><p>"Because these are my memories," she replied.</p><p>"Are you afraid of forgetting?"</p><p>Daenerys took a deep breath and shook her head. A veil of sorrow fell over her in those days, one that she only would lift in moments when they remembered and talk of their children or spent times of intimacy.</p><p>"I'm afraid of not being myself," she confided. </p><p>Jon moved to sit next to her so he could hold her. She allowed him close for a brief moment before tensing and slipping out of his embrace.</p><p>"You are stinking with the smell of fish, get away from me!" she playfully shooed him away, making them laugh.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XL)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Dany perched at The Valyrian's bow as soon as the misty silhouette of Wolves Den became clear. <em>Home</em>. She was at home. Never, not even when she saw Dragonstone's shoreline the first time she arrived in Westeros, had she felt at home.</p><p>Her skin burned at the thought of her children and the many embraces she would give them. Those poor children would probably get sick of their mother pestering them with them. She thought of Jorian, who would surely be mad at her for a long time before finally sneaking into her and Jon's bed at night. Missella who would most likely be shocked and restrained. And Dalya, the baby she left here wondering what happened to her mother...would she still remember her? She asked herself again.</p><p>Dany turned around to see Jon, who was standing a little distance behind her, and whose lips formed a smile when their gazes met. She also gave him a smile as her heart pounded faster against her ribcage. It had been about three years since the time he brought them here, and at no time had she regretted that decision.  </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The outburst of cheers did not wait.</p><p>Much of the <em>loot</em> from the plunder had gone to Hardhome while a small group had returned with it to the safety of Wolves Den, among these the ships that carried the yaks. After spending so much time planning improvements for her village and its people, she was eager to start working on it.  </p><p>There was something magnificent and grand about settling in a place and making it your own, and Wolves Den was that place for Dany. There were her children and the people who had received them. Had she known that life on this side of the world was everything she had been looking for all along, Dany would have saved herself from playing the game of thrones and run away with Jon to start a family here from the beginning.</p><p>She didn't want to dwell on those thoughts because she inevitably felt guilty for wanting something so selfish when she was so committed to another cause but she couldn't help it. And she couldn't forget the damage that had been done to her, either.</p><p>While still in her cabin of The Valyrian, Dany hugged her children's woolen blanket and took in its scent once more, wondering if there would be more little ones in her future, another thought that overwhelmed her.  Asking for more after what life had already given her could feel like asking too much. Rhaella, her mother, had lost many children among which those pregnancies that resulted in successful births and she eventually died bringing Dany into the world. Jon's mother had died after giving birth to him. The fear of death was there, even knowing that with Jorian, Missella, and Dalya everything had ended well. </p><p><em>Not as yet</em>, she answered herself. </p><p>The cabin door opened as Jon walked through it. He was back in his long dark bearskin coat. <em>Black has always been my color</em>, she could hear him saying in her mind. </p><p>"How are you feeling?" he asked in a hoarse voice. She had urged him to come down before her but had stayed to wait for her.</p><p>"I am terrified," Dany replied. And it was the truest statement she could give.</p><p>Unlike the other ships, the Valyrian did not berth in the docks. That place was given to the other ships that carried more valuable content than themselves, or so Daenerys argued when she suggested that the meeting with the children take place on a secluded shore near their cabin, the same place from where she said goodbye when she left.</p><p>She did not want to be greeted with cheers. She wanted to be received by her children -only by her children. And yet, when the time had come to get off the Valyrian to get on the boat that would take them to shore, Dany had returned to the cabin in an attempt to reassure herself and think about what she would say to her children when she saw them again after all this time.</p><p>She was terrified.</p><p>"I am too," Jon reassured her, walking closer until he was close enough to grab her by the small of her back. </p><p>"They love you," Dany told him, "You are not the one who abandoned them. You went to bring me back home."</p><p>He stifled a laugh.</p><p>"The first time we were like this, you were their mother and I was just someone who claimed to be their father and that they hardly knew. Jorian just wanted me to tell him stories and Missella was afraid of me."</p><p>She also remembered those days. Back then, she'd wanted to make thing easier for all of them as a family but children decide on their own at what stage to allow others to be involved in their lives, and although with Jorian it has been easier due to his open nature, Missella had not been able to overcome her initial shock until much later when Jon stopped being a friendly stranger to become her father.</p><p>"You could have left me there to deal with it all on my own, and yet you were there for me. You not only gave me my children Dany, but you also helped me be a father to them."</p><p>His gaze conveyed something that only she could understand.</p><p>"Whatever awaits us there, and in the future, we will do it together. Always."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Wolves Den.</strong>
</p><p>Green life sprouted from the heavy mounds of snow more frequently each time the cycles of storms and winds gave way to the tranquility of still too tender spring. The trees closest to the shore were bare while further west thick crowns of deep green that almost looked black marked the entrance to the forest - another stretch of the Haunted Forest that kept their cabin sheltered and secluded from the rest of the village.</p><p>Jon had chosen to build his cabin here seven years ago because the forest accompanied him in his desire for solitude. In the present, it protected his life, that was his family.</p><p>Next to him came a muffled groan. Dany's shoulders trembled as she put a hand to her mouth to contain herself. Tears welled her eyes at the sight of their children on the banks of the river. From a distance, Jon could see how -who was clearly Jorian- ran out of Munda's grip to step almost on the water.</p><p>Jon also felt tick tears pool his eyes but did his best to hold them back as he circled Dany's waist and placed a kiss on her temple.</p><p>"We are home," he told her.</p><p>Dany and Jorian met halfway and meld into an embrace. She instinctively raised his little body so that the water would not cool him, even though the child was already all soaked.</p><p>The sounds of her son's desperate crying in his mother's arms finally broke him and silent tears slid down his cheeks.</p><p>"MAMA!" he said over and over, followed by several words in High Valyrian. When his gray eyes -the same as his- landed on him claiming, "PAPA!" he leaned forward for Jon to hold him.</p><p>"PA PA PA!" the screams came. Jon looked up with Jorian still wrapped around his neck to see Dalya in Tormund's arms, bustling with one arm outstretched and a tiny hand opening and closing in his direction, as if trying to reach for him.</p><p>Missella was there too, in a more reserved stance with an expression deeply shocked as if she couldn't find the way to react to the sudden presence of them.</p><p>Father and mother approached their daughters. Tormund, Munda, Dalra, and Jorian's little friend were also there waiting.</p><p>Of course, Ghost was diligently standing nearby and holding back his excitement at the sight of him although it could be perceived in the joyous wagging of his tail and his single ear tilted.</p><p>As soon as he was there, Dalya whimpered a demand for her to be picked up in his arms. With his free arm, Jon pulled her close, burying his face into her neck and her silver hair, breathing in her soft babe scent that yet had not disappeared.</p><p>Dany next to him had knelt, careful to not overwhelm Missella more than she already was. His eldest daughter has always been very prudent in her affections and guarded with physical contact - he himself had not been able to get close to her until she had chosen to get close to him first.</p><p>Jon also knelt to be close to his wife and daughter, while Jorian babbled incomprehensible words over his heavy sob.</p><p>"Missella," Dany said softly, one hand carefully extended in her direction. "Do you remember me, my love? I'm Mama."</p><p>Missella nodded. The line of fallen tears stained her pale cheeks - her face paled in the tumult of emotions that overwhelmed her. Her crying was a silent act of suffering as opposed to the manifestation of open emotion of her siblings. Her dark, wild curls had been braided into a single braid that fell her left side. Lilac eyes stared at her parents in dismay.</p><p>Dalya dug her - quite sharp and long - nails into the skin of Jon's neck, drawing his attention.</p><p>"Thank you," Jon said to Tormund, Munda, and Dalra. "Thank you for taking care of my family."</p><p>Dalra and Munda nodded, stepping back and taking with them the other boy who was only watching the scene with childish curiosity. Tormund stood a little longer to appreciate the image of them with a smile of sincere happiness. Jon supposed that seeing him in his greatest misery to this, had left a mark on him.</p><p>The lick of Ghost's tongue took him by surprise and Jon laughed, sinking his hand into his white fur.</p><p>"Thanks to you as well," he told him.</p><p>By the time he turned his attention back to Dany, Jorian had slipped back into her embrace. Missella had taken a few steps back as if she also wanted to give them space but when she looked back and took in the situation, she finally burst into tears and ran into Dany's arms with a stentorian cry.</p><p>That night as the din of festivities and celebration could be heard in the distance, they lay huddled with their children while holding hands together and looking into each other's eyes with a love that was greater than all the kingdoms the world has known. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>As soon as he heard the horn announcing a boat entering the harbor, he struck the stirrups on the horse's side to gallop back to the village. He reached the top of a cliff and could see with a smile on his face that it was not a simple boat but a ship.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jarl passed through the village, dodging its inhabitants heading in the same direction with fiery excitement. He got off his horse and made his way to the dock.</p><p>His people descended victorious and cheering, waving their arms and displaying different valuable objects that surely came from great loot. Jarl looked curious but his attention had quickly turned to locate his wife in the crowd. It didn't take him long to catch a glimpse of her for her sight stood out.</p><p>His heart raced. He had missed her.</p><p>Jarl was about to let himself be carried away by the excitement of seeing her again when something he did not expect to see stopped him.</p><p>On other occasions, he’s seen looting parties coming back with people shuffling along – mostly women who would have been stolen. It was not something he found pleasant but it was something normal in other clans. Since Jon Snow had spoken out against it, and even more so with the Dragon Queen among them, such things were no longer tolerated. Yet, his wife carried a child under her arm. Not just any child but one of those of exotic skin that he knew came from the lands across the sea.</p><p>Jarl stood in place. Val's eyes found him and a smile spread across her face, yet she didn't rush toward him. She kept moving forward, her hands pushing along the child that was looking around in terror.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>His eyes were fixed on the girl but hers would avoid him as she groped with hands covered with wool at the instruments on the table in front of her. The girl's eyes were something he had never seen and it made him feel apprehensive.</p><p>"I missed the cold," Val commented nonchalantly. "I missed the ice getting into my lungs." She was behind him, drawing closer as she slurred the words. Her breath was soon on the back of his neck as a hand snaked to his front. "I missed you inside me," she whispered.</p><p>Jarl stopped her hand with his, turning on his heel to face her. Her icy eyes were like an invitation to conflict. They were always there.</p><p>"What is that?" he questioned, with a nod in the direction of the child.</p><p>"A girl," she answered curtly.</p><p>However, soon her hands moved to his face to cradle it. "My daughter. <em>Our</em> daughter."</p><p>Jarl rejected her touch aggressively again.</p><p>"That is not our daughter. That is a child you stole for yourself."</p><p>"I didn't steal her. <em>I found her</em>. She was alone and had no one else. The Old Gods put her in my way."</p><p>Jarl crossed the room but Val was faster than him to slide in front of the girl. He had no intention of hurting her, only to scare her away, but Val's stance ended up dismaying him. She really believed that this was her daughter. "She was being hurt!" she stated, putting her body between him and the girl, who had wrapped an arm around her waist as she whimpered. "I have the endorsement of Daenerys and Jon."</p><p>"But you are neither Daenerys nor Jon's wife. You are my wife and you owe me respect. This is my home!"</p><p>"I'm leaving then," she said.</p><p>"Where you're going?"</p><p>"Anywhere. But with my daughter."</p><p>Val turned to lift the girl to her feet.</p><p>"This is not your daughter."</p><p>"Yes, she is!" she snapped so forcefully that he was left speechless. "Yes, she is," she repeated more softly, with the girl now hiding her face in her belly.</p><p>For a long moment, only the child’s whimpering was heard and outside the uproar of celebrations that contrasted with the chaos of their home. It was supposed to be a happy day.</p><p>He looked stunned at the image of his wife soothing the child while placing a kiss on the crown of her head.</p><p>Jarl stormed out of there.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Are you keen for some company?"</p><p>Kinvara raised an ironic eyebrow but thought better of it before answering,</p><p>"Of course. Come with me."</p><p>The wildling man seemed surprised to hear her affirmative response. She looked intently into his eyes and he was spellbound. He was so drunk that the next morning he wouldn't remember anything.</p><p>"I know a place," he began to suggest.</p><p>"Sure you do," the priestess replied but she was the one leading the way.</p><p>They passed through the village through the tumult of bellowing people celebrating the return of the warriors that carried out the great plunder across the sea. For the first time in centuries, the free folk were living and not trying to survive.</p><p>"Is it true that you are a witch?"</p><p>The corner of her lips lifted.</p><p>"Would that change your intentions tonight?"</p><p>"Am I going to die if I fuck you?"</p><p>"That will be left to the will of the lord of light," she replied, having no intention of being taken by anyone that night. </p><p>The eyes of her companion looked her up and down.</p><p>"It's worth the risk," he decided.</p><p>They came to the wooden stairs that led to the bridges of the fortifications. Kinvara bowed her head and smiled at him. He was not an endowed man in his attributes, but neither was he a brute. If she pushed him away, he would just pull away. Not because he was of a meek demeanor but because he had learned that it was best not to stir trouble.</p><p>"Do you like heights?" he kept asking, following her. </p><p>"I am a high priestess," she quipped. They reached the first bridge. "Extend your right hand to me, the one with which you raise your weapons," she required.</p><p>He blinked in confusion for a moment but her eyes locked on his made him give way. With a small dagger she took from the pocket of her dress, she made a small cut on her finger. He barely winced.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"We are going to cast a spell to protect yours and mine."</p><p>Kinvara led him by the hand and recited the incantation in her mind as his blood poured out on the fortifications of Wolves Den. This was ancient magic. That is how those who wanted to demarcate a magical limit on their territory had worked before. The Valyrians before Brandon and Brandon before her.</p><p>She had thought of doing it with her own blood but the blood of a Northerner would look a more appealing oblation in the eyes of the R'hllor. She and her companion walked the bridges until she felt that it would be enough.</p><p>Enough so that everything that was alien to this place and visit it, would never leave again.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The next day she had woken up to the chirping of the birds almost ringing next to her ear and she smiled because she remembered how much she'd hated that noise when she first settled in this cabin with such light walls. The memory reminded Dany how far she has come, from being upset by something so vain. Her eyes quickly flickered and fixed on the sight of her family. Her children and her husband. Her heart swelled with love and regret because this had been all that she has wanted the most and what the world has denied her so many times. Her pulse raced at the mere thought of losing them. </p><p>Stop, she chided herself. There was no more need to drown in sorrows. Not here. Not now.</p><p>While her family was still sound asleep, one of its members had woken up just like her. <em>Dalya</em>.</p><p>Daenerys couldn't believe how beautiful she had become. Jon had warned her how much he resembled her as she grew older and although she tried to tone it down, now she could see that it was true. Dalya was probably her spitting image.</p><p>Her daughter had her eyes wide open, watching her. There was curiosity in them as if she was asking her with her stare who Dany was and why she was lying there with them. Dany reached for a cheek to stroke and unlike Missella, Dalya didn't recoil but neither did she blend in familiar affection. She just stood still, watching her mother silently.</p><p>Soon after, Jon also woke up.</p><p>An hour later, they had sat down at the rectangular table that had come home in her absence and that was a welcome replacement to that old, round piece of wood that had been here since she and the children moved in. She and Jon helped themselves to some of the leftover stew from the night before in the cauldron, with bread and fruit. The children broke their fast with porridge and nuts, buttermilk and bread.</p><p>There have been no mentions of any dragons and she was happy about that. Remembering Drogon and their last encounter brought her back to a place of sorrow she did not want to return to while immersed in that bliss. Dany wanted to enjoy it and leave the sorrows for another time although she knew that at some point she would have to face it.</p><p>"I'm coming with you," Jorian said. Rather he communicated, rushing to take her hand when Dany had stood up and placed herself in one of her heavy cloaks of animal fur. </p><p>Dany glanced at Jon and he at her. They planned to leave the children with Tormund as they went down to the village to deal with an issue that made both of them impatient.</p><p>"My love, it will only be a moment," Dany leaned down to explain, but Jorian had already scowled into that suspicious expression.</p><p>"I'm coming with you!" he insisted, planting his foot on the ground.</p><p>"Jorian..." Jon began but Dany held up a hand to signal him not to even bother.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (VIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He stood on the forecastle for a bit longer while taking in the sight of the place. The port was a very poor one compared to those in Essos but it has taken him aback that it was already heavily guarded by fortifications as if the place were a kind of keep that they had to protect from the attacks of invaders. No invaders got past Hardhome. And they were there for very specific reasons.</p><p>He was aware of the challenge involved in bringing an army to a place in the world that was flat out inhospitable - some men fell ill and their bodies were thrown into the sea. However, if the Dothraki and the Unsullied could, the Second Sons would show equal strength.</p><p><em>Shit</em>, he thought, walking down the ramp and then down to the dock. The freezing weather was overwhelming. He would need a strong drink to even move his fingers. <em>And maybe even a fuck</em>, he considered, glancing at the unwelcoming faces of the people who came to see them. The women on this side of the world lacked the beauty of the exotic whores of Essos, but he could get by with some of the fierce women that traveled to Braavos.</p><p>He thought of the cold, sharp-eyed, slim-built woman he had seen briefly in the raid on Tycho Nestoris' home. It wasn't Daenerys but her beauty was very close to resembling her. And she looked at him too, and in that look, he saw defiance.</p><p>Daario guessed it would be a long time before he got Daenerys back and, in the meantime, he wasn't going to sit around and watch her get wooed by her husband.</p><p>Just when he thought he lessened his infatuation with her, then the image of her appearing as a stark contrast to the rest of the people gathered in that port reminded him that he was far from having overcome her. Gone are her elaborate Essossi-style garments. The thin layers of fabric that hugged the curves of her body. Now she was covered by the heavy fur of some animal that he probably didn't even know existed. Daario kept looking at her like she was a divine being but the charm was not the same. She didn't belong there.</p><p>Daario's heart skipped a beat. Not because Jon Snow appeared not far behind her. But for the children who accompanied them.</p><p><em>Shit</em>.</p><p>Children. Daenerys had children.</p><p>The idea hadn't settled on his mind until he saw it with his own eyes. An animal instinct was awakened in him, like that of a lion who kills his enemy and his offspring to steal his mate and produce his own cubs with her. How many times had he fantasized about his seed taking root in her and that she would bear him a child? He. A former slave turned mercenary, begetting a child with the last offspring of the dragonseed. But dragons didn't come down to mingle with the trash below. Dragons mated between them. And the woman he loved for being a dragon she was had found another dragon in the oddest of the places. </p><p>Dany stopped when she saw him. Suspicious and uncomfortable.</p><p>It was difficult for Daario to figure out that the child who was holding her hand was a boy and not a girl, the silver hair like his mother's spilling over his shoulders telling another thing. Behind mother and son, Jon Snow gave him a look that made it clear that he was not and would not be welcome. Daario responded with a mocking grin. In his arms, he carried a girl and next to him, there was another child a little larger, the same age as the boy. Twins? From their faces, he could guess so, but this child had dark hair. A girl, he was sure. </p><p>"You and your husband don't waste any time, I take it," Daario commented as he approached them.</p><p>The boy scowled hard at the sight and Daario could see Jon Snow's face in him despite the silver hair. The boy looked quickly at his mother.</p><p>"Jorian," she spoke to her son. "This is Captain Daario Naharis. Daario, this is my son Jorian."</p><p>"Jorian for old Jorah?"</p><p>"Did you meet the bear knight?" her son's shrill voice broke in.</p><p>Daario crouched down to address him.</p><p>"Yes. We were very good friends with your mother–"</p><p>Daenerys however, pushed her son behind her before she could continue the conversation.</p><p>"You and your men must surrender all the weapons and report to the Great Hall to discuss this new coexistence," Daenerys explained.</p><p>She turned to look at her husband as if seeking approval. The gesture did nothing to lessen the terrible anger that the man aroused in Daario. "Those are my daughters, Missella and Dalya."</p><p>Daenerys looked at him again.</p><p>"I understand," he said, though the image didn't elicit any sympathy in him. "Whatever my queen demands, I shall comply," he said, turning on his heel back to the ship.</p><p><em>Soon</em>, he thought.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Water Gardens, Dorne.</strong>
</p><p>"My lord will excuse me but this is extremely disconcerting," Princess Arianne finally spoke after being perplexed for several seconds, seeing them in all their misery and poor presence.</p><p>Tyrion had no idea why his head hadn't been cut off yet for even trying to enter the royal residence. Just when he’d believed that he had already lost all hint of wit, he had managed to at least sow doubt in the guards about his true identity.</p><p>"It's him," confirmed the man with light-brown hair and a comely face.  "It's the Lannister imp."</p><p>"Ser Arys, the last time I saw you, you were sailing from King's Landing with Myrcella. I’m glad to see you have pleasantly enjoyed your stay in Dorne. So much delight has been that you've decided to stay permanently, from what I see," Tyrion commented with a hint of amusement that he shouldn't have allowed himself. Behind Arianne, over the windowsill, he could see Shae looking at him disapprovingly though her eyes betrayed her with an amused glint. Her presence became increasingly rare.</p><p>"I was at Winterfell and saw you there again, misshapen and idle as you are now," the knight replied.</p><p>"That doesn't sound very knightly of you."</p><p>"Ser Arys Oakheart no longer responds to House Lannister or Brandon Stark's crown," the princess defended him vehemently. "Hardly anyone responds to Brandon Stark's crown."</p><p>"While that may undoubtedly be a controversial claim, my Princess, your brother, the Prince, he does.  I remember him standing that day and swearing his allegiance. And while for Ironborn words might be whispers of the wind, I don't think Doran Martell's son is given to disregard his own word."</p><p>The princess snorted. He had heard of the beauty of her person but honestly, Tyrion was shocked. Almost as much as the first time, he saw Daenerys in all her Targaryen glory. So opposite they both and just as striking and attractive to the eye, the dornish princess had a lot more of an enticement, that’s so. An invitation to sin like most of the people who lived down here in this hell.</p><p>"And the...girl?" she asked, pointing to his side where a distraught Penny was still shaking. Tyrion didn't know whether from terror or from shame. They were still chained together. "This whole situation is absurd, my Lord."</p><p>"I was on a royal mission in the East when my ship was assaulted by bandits of the sea. Pirates. Of course, they held me alive for their amusement for a while but that couldn't be for long. There was an incident and we ended up shipwrecked. By the grace of the Seven, here I stand on Dornish land."</p><p>"And I assume that, like Hand of the King, then you will call upon the right of guess?" Arianne asked. "Your king has not sent word about you–"</p><p>"My king does not know that I am here."</p><p>"And if I cut your head off right now, he'll never know," she said, with a smile.</p><p>Tyrion pondered. He saw cunning in the young woman.</p><p>"It would be a very good decision. Divine justice, it would be said. You would be ending House Lannister once and for all and would demand justice for the deaths of Elia, her children, and Oberyn."</p><p>The princess rose from her seat.</p><p>"My uncle Oberyn died because of you," she almost barked. "The mountain slew him because of you."</p><p>"And Ellaria took Myrcella's life for it. Here your wandering knight can also confirm to you that she was just an innocent little girl. Oberyn used to say that little girls weren’t hurt here in Dorne, but poor Myrcella couldn't live up to that truth." He made a move in Penny's direction. Her eyes were fixed on Arianne as if she were the image of a god. "My companion here is a little girl herself. I ask you to live by your uncle's words and not hurt her when you are done with me."</p><p>Her face contorted in pain.</p><p><em>Well done, my lion</em>. <em>Arouse pity in the princess</em>.</p><p>"It’s not necessary for Arys’ attestation. I met Myrcella," she said, blinking and looking down before looking back at him with less hard eyes but just as firm. "She was a good girl and if my brother and I had been here when all that took place, things would have been different."</p><p>"Glad to hear that."</p><p>"It doesn't take away from the fact that your presence in this court doesn't make a lot of sense and that I still have great contempt for you."</p><p>"Welcome. Join the long line of people who despise me."</p><p>The princess's fists clenched into fists and she raised her chin in contemplation. Finally, she sighed.</p><p>"Arys, your sword," she called to the knight, who soon obeyed and drew his weapon.</p><p>Tyrion swallowed hard and closed his eyes. He heard the swing of the sword and the cry of Penny next to him.</p><p>When he opened his eyes, there was no blood and his hands, which had instinctively traveled to his face, were now free from Penny's hold.  The links of the severed chain danced alone and separated from the rest that was left in Penny's.</p><p>He looked up at the princess.</p><p>"Before I cut off your head, I want to know what's in it," she said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. I'm afraid of losing you again.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One or two more chapters to solve this plot and then two more before the epilogue.</p><p>Trigger Warning🚫: Sansa's POV contains a not explicit scene of abuse (not rape).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>24.</strong>
</p><p><strong>I'm afraid of losing you again</strong>.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (IV)</strong>
</p><p><strong>Wolves Den</strong>.</p><p>The bustle in the Great Hall was insurmountable and deafening. Yet it was what Jarl was looking for –drown the thoughts that troubled him with senseless uproar. He could not share the joy of his people at the great plunder or the discontent with the presence of the foreign army. Whatever situation was taking place, he was not listening to its details.</p><p>By the time he lent an ear, a man called Sverolf was shouting, "We don't know anything about these people," he protested against the newcomers, "They don't belong here," he stated sternly. "How can we be sure that they are not here to raid our villages and steal our people to enslave them?"</p><p>Jarl glanced at the people in question. They were clad in furs and armor, standing to one side without saying anything and keeping their faces impassive.</p><p>"Captain Naharis is in my wife's service and under her command," answered Snow. "They are good warriors and we've fought together, side by side." Jon stood in the center. "Those who have traveled to Braavos can attest it."</p><p>"Aye," some of them acknowledged. Yet there was hesitation on his people's part. "King Crown, would you answer for them? For any of their actions here on our land?"</p><p>"We both will," the Dragon Queen stepped forward. Jarl craned his neck to catch sight of her. "The idea is that we can keep fighting together. Braavos is just the beginning. There are many more places across the sea to explore and opponents to face. Disciplined soldiers in the art of war."</p><p>Jarl shifted his gaze to the man who was representing the foreigners, a tall man with sun-touched skin, and a cocksure smirk on his face. He was in a corner, looking like he was not giving too much importance to the matter in question.</p><p>Other voices against and in favor arose but it was ultimately agreed that they would carry out joint training, yet their men's weapons would remain withheld. Still, one could smell the growing discontent among those who had been left dissatisfied.</p><p>Jarl approached Jon and Daenerys, who was away talking with Tormund's daughter, Munda.</p><p>"Jon," he walked over and call his name, looking at the sides making sure no one else would intrude their conversation, "I have to ask you something," he spoke straightforwardly, "The girl that Val brought…you have to take her back. She doesn't belong here."</p><p>Jon frowned. </p><p>"Have you talked to Val?" he asked, puzzled.</p><p>"She refuses to hearken my word."</p><p>He nodded and looked away.</p><p>"I spoke to her in Braavos, but she insisted that the girl was hers to care for."</p><p>"That is clear to me," he said, remembering the protective stance his wife had taken, even against him. "Your friend, the pirate. Have the girl taken back."</p><p>Jon didn't answer for a long moment.</p><p>"Jarl," he made a pregnant pause, "She's steadfast and determined. There's nothing I can do."</p><p>Jarl’s fists clenched and his mouth twitched.</p><p>Jon walked away to continue talking to other people while Jarl stood there staring at him sharply. Then his eyes met the curious stare of Captain Naharis. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tormund (VII) </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Tormund laughed as the men fell one by one in an attempt to move the large, heavy beasts off the bridge. They were huge and headstrong like a giant. Daenerys was scolding them as she shouted instructions until she herself took the matter into her own hands. While demonstrating how to tame the animal, she spoke softly in some language unknown to them, and soon the beast was coming down quietly as people around her stared in silence. </p><p>"A Yak. That's what this is," she told them, one hand buried in his thick brown fur. "They remarkably tolerant of cold and starvation - but they greatly dislike heat." She smirked at them. "Quite like the whole of you," she quipped, eliciting a burst of cackling and roars. "They thrive in conditions of extreme harshness and deprivation while providing a livelihood for people. Often they wander off individually during the non-breeding season to hill areas away from the high mountains. Most importantly, Yaks rarely fall victim to predators as they are able to oppose attackers –different from sheep and goats. The males are known to attack people on remote roads, even."</p><p>The farmers followed her example and brought the yaks down to the fields. </p><p>They sat ahorse watching everything. It was not their task to take care of, but both he and Little Crown were curious about the nature of those beasts. Jon was perhaps more interested in the sight of his wife's rear as she dragged the animal from his reins across the muddy ground. </p><p>"One would say that you are starving, Little Crow," he joked.</p><p>The slightest smile spread across his face.</p><p>"Children are not leaving our bed," he said.</p><p>"Har! Right, right; They also know three dragonwolves are enough."</p><p>Tormund and Jon turned in the direction of the training fields where they would begin the instruction that the soldiers of the Second Sons would impart to the warriors of the free folk. Not because the former were better than the latter but because it was about different ways of facing the enemy on the battlefield. And as he had heard in the last days since the return from the great plunder, his people were eager to return.</p><p>"I don't understand this agreement of yours. And if I was in your feet, I'd be throwing the man to the wolves," Tormund said as he remembered Daario Naharis, the man that commanded the sellswords. A man that was infatuated with the Dragon Queen.</p><p>Jon's quiet nonchalance had turned to anger in a second. Still, he remained reserved.</p><p>"I trust that Daenerys will know how to handle the situation," he answered. </p><p>"Yes, but this is our land and they are the kind of people who come to our shores to take our folks."</p><p>It was also one of the many concerns that had sprung up with their arrival. </p><p>"They won't resist the cold for long," Jon reassured. </p><p>"And that will be a problem if they leave to spread the rumor of a brooding man and his dragon wife," he warned him. "C'mon, Little Crown. What are you not telling me about this whole thing?"</p><p>Jon looked away.</p><p>"Kinvara encircled Wolves Den with a spell; Nothing that goes in can come out unless it's from here," he revealed. </p><p>The neighing sounds of the horses were the only noise that could be heard for a long time until Tormund scoffed.</p><p>"And you believe her?"</p><p>Jon glanced at him with an eyebrow rosed.</p><p>"Is that a real question?" he asked him. "In the meantime, we will do well in harnessing  the opportunity to fight a worthy contender."</p><p>Tormund scowled but understood that Jon would've told him if something was amiss. </p><p>"Aye," he agreed. </p><p>While the free folk had fierce warriors at their disposal, Tormund had to admit that discipline was something they weren't used to and something that always worked against them when facing their enemies. And that first day of training it had become clear who had the upper hand.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"We'll read a story, aren't you coming?" Jon asked Missella, who hadn't walked with them to the room he shared with Dany. The night before she had fallen asleep and had not been awake when they did the same.</p><p>Jon found her alone in the room she shared with her siblings, already tucked under the furs, staring upwards.</p><p>"No, I'm sleepy," she responded simply. </p><p>Jon walked in and sat down on the edge of her bed. As Dalya grew to be the spitting image of Daenerys, Missella favored him more every day –except for the lilac eyes, of course. </p><p>"Are you feeling well? Does something hurt you?" Jon insisted, touching her face to rule out that she was suffering from some kind of fever or indisposition. </p><p>"No, Papa," she gruffed. "I'm sleepy," she repeated.</p><p>Then she closed her eyes and lay on her side.</p><p>Jon bent over and kissed her head crowned with dark curls like his. Before pulling the door open, he looked back one last time but she was deep into slumber.</p><p>When he reached their room, Dalya was quietly waiting on the doorsill. Jon picked her up in his arms and walked inside.</p><p>"She was waiting for you," Daenerys' voice coming from the bed sounded outraged and Jon could only smile in response. </p><p>"Aye, did you?" he spoke to Dalya, who nuzzled her head into his neck.</p><p>"And Missella?" Daenerys asked.</p><p>He sighed regretfully.</p><p>"She was asleep," he replied.</p><p>The same concern appeared on her face.</p><p>"I should get to see if she's fine," she started moving from the bed but Jon hurried off to reassure her.</p><p>"She is fine. I made sure of it."</p><p>Although she looked past him with a conflicted expression, she sat back down on the bed and Jorian crawled up to lie between her legs and her chest.</p><p>"I want to hear the tale!"</p><p>Not a full week had passed since their return, but Jorian's attachment was beginning to worry him. Actually, the behavior of all their children became a source of worry for them. As the days passed, Jon and Dany were still trying to figure out the correct way to deal with it.</p><p>"Well, let's see," Dany opened the book she already chose for that night. A path they were exploring was that of the stories –as that was how Jorian and Missella had started bonding with him when they first met.</p><p>He settled next to his wife, with Lya sitting in the space between the two of them to get a better view of the book in her mother's hands, though her little arm was extended and her small hand closed tightly onto the fabric of his tunic as if she were making sure that even if she didn't have her eyes on him, he wouldn't escape from her again. Jon never thought he would be so overwhelmed by such an innocent gesture.</p><p>"Can you read this?" Daenerys asked Jorian as she pointed to the High Valyrian words that were etched into the leather of the cover. There was another engraving just as important.</p><p>"A-zi...Da-ha-k..." the boy spelled slowly, furrowing his brow and murmuring the union between words to himself. He then looked up to his mother. "Azi Dahaka?" he sought confirmation. </p><p>"Yes! Very well. That's the name of this tale," Dany congratulated him.</p><p>"What is this?" Jorian pointed at the figure that rested on its cover.</p><p>"This is it," Dany began, "A dragon."</p><p>His son's eyes widened before he’d frowned again in confusion.</p><p>"A dragon? But Tormund said they were like chickens!"</p><p>An involuntary burst of laughter escaped from the back of his throat as he threw his head back.</p><p>"Tormund is not very good with words or describing things," Daenerys also sounded amused.  </p><p>Jorian reached for Daenerys' arm to move the book and get a better look at the three-headed dragon embossed on the leather. It had nothing to do with the banner of House Targaryen, for this tome belonged to the lore of ancient Valyria but it could well have been a source of inspiration for it.</p><p>"So…this is a dragon? It looks very scary."</p><p>"They can be a very impressive view for the eyes," Daenerys agreed. "But you shouldn't be scared. Because you are a dragon as well."</p><p>Jorian sat back on his haunches with a jerk, both hands supporting his weight.</p><p>"What?"  he asked in an exaggerated tone of voice.</p><p>"Yes. We all are dragons," Dany told him.</p><p>"I'm not a dragon, Mama. I cannot fly!"     </p><p>"Well, no. You can't. And please, never try," she admonished very seriously. "Would you please let me read you this story so I can better explain to you how is that your father, your sisters, me, and you, we are all dragons?"</p><p>"Aye," Jorian responded reluctantly.</p><p>Dany began to narrate the story while helping Jorian read the words in the book while showing Dalya the illustrations on its pages. Jon was sure that she wasn't even close to being faithful to what the story told but that was her way of telling tales, with mimics and exaggerated voices that attracted and kept the attention of their children. He really would've liked Missella to be there as well.</p><p>The tale was about a three-headed dragon, created by the gods to wield great power in the world of other magical beings. But soon he had been chained by his enemies in the far reaches of this world and was waiting to one day be released. From that, she was able to tell him about the Valyrians and, very last and lightly, about the Targaryens of Dragonstone.</p><p>When Dany had finished, Jorian was fascinated. She had omitted the details of the doom of Valyria and touched far above the origins of their family: explaining about the kings of Westeros from whom they descended.</p><p>As if someone (probably Tormund) had warned him about it, Jorian asked sheepishly, "Where is your dragon?"</p><p>Dany lowered the book. Lya was already numb on Jon's belly. He could see how a hint of sadness overshadowed her motherly contentment. "You know I have a dragon," she admitted. "His name is Drogon."      </p><p>"That's a silly name, Mama."</p><p>Both of his parents chuckled. </p><p>"Well, don't tell him that when you meet him."</p><p>Jorian's jaw dropped and his sleep-heavy eyes widened a bit.</p><p>"I will meet him?"</p><p>Daenerys looked at him before looking back at their son.</p><p>"Someday, I hope," she said.</p><p>"Why not tomorrow? Can Sigurd come to meet him too?"</p><p>Daenerys combed a long silver curl behind his ear as she stroked his plump cheek.</p><p>"Drogon is far off from our home, my love. He is a dragon, and they like to roam free," she told him thought Jon knew how painfully that lie should be for her. The last time they saw Drogon, he was furious for being left alone again. </p><p>"Then how I can meet him?" Jorian was curious to know. </p><p>"Someday you will. I promise you." Dany bent down to kiss his head in the same fashion he did with Missella. It was a tender gesture of reassurance. She looked into his eyes intently. "We are of the blood of the dragon. And as Azi Dahaka, we are just waiting to be released."  </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Be careful," Daenerys whispered an admonition as he carried Jorian to his bed. Jon felt a new kind of tug on his back as he got up and made his way to the children's room. Either he was suffering the consequences of aging or his son was swallowing too much in their absence.</p><p>Before returning, he looked at his three children one last time and thought that he would never change a thing in his life if that could alter as it was now.</p><p>He returned to his wife and found her lying on her back with her eyes to the ceiling, her brow furrowed and her hands folded over her belly.</p><p>"What are you doing?" he asked her.</p><p>She turned her head to him.</p><p>"You did that?" One hand with one finger extended pointed out to the ceiling. "The patterns," she clarified. </p><p>"I bought it from an artisan in Hardhome."</p><p>He had had plenty of free time to devote himself to making improvements to their cabin while she was saving the world across the Narrow Sea.</p><p>"I was counting them," she explained, propping herself up on her elbows, which caused his little self-control to give way as he slid his eyes over her nipples outlined beneath the fine fabric of her nightgown.</p><p><em>Not tonight</em>, he admonished himself. They were already exhausted and wanted to enjoy some time for themselves as well.</p><p>"That will get you snoring into sleep."</p><p>"No, the children already did that," she replied with a lazy smile.    </p><p>He walked over to the books they had brought from Essos, mostly from the collection Lyrissos had given them. He took the one with the red cover and engraved gold letters.</p><p>"Does the story says that actually? About Azi Daka."</p><p>"Azi Dahaka," she corrected him. "Not exactly. Azi Dahaka was a mean beast created by the forces of evil. He lies beneath the ground, chained and enraged at the waiting for the day he'd be released from his imprisonment to bring chaos, fire, and blood to all humanity." She wore a sly smile on her face. "I had to change some bits."</p><p>He chuckled and walked over to the bed.</p><p>"Let's read ourselves something more useful," he said, showing her the book in his hand.</p><p>"I'll read for you, you mean."</p><p>She took the book he was offering her and examined it. While the children were to start to get in touch with their origins through stories that she would carefully introduce them to, they themselves were curious to know more about the Valyrians of yore.</p><p>"This one seems interesting," Jon opined. He had already laid down next to her on the bed.</p><p>"You can't know that," Dany scoffed as she leaned on her side and opened the book.</p><p>"<em>Ameron</em>."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"That day in Volantis, Lyrissos mentioned that name and, contrary to the common belief, I can read some Valyrian."</p><p>She chuckled, kissed his cheek, and snuggled closer to him to start the reading. </p><p>"Okay, let's us start. Ameron, the black prince."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>There was a pergola near the river where he found the man who had had an argument with Jon Snow in the Great Hall. Daario trudged closer, fighting the snow-covered pathway.</p><p>"I'd been acquainted with all sorts of strong drinks before –I come from a place that can provide you with almost any sort of beverage the mind can imagine. Yet I've never had anything like this," he commented curiously, looking at the rustic stein in his hand that contained a strong drink that they had served for him and his men. Some of them had vomited it all overboard.</p><p>The wildling brute grunted in annoyance. </p><p>"Fuck off," he sent him off.</p><p>Daario could only smirk.</p><p>"I've never met kind as mulish as you Northerners, and I've met lots of them." He leaned against one of the wooden pillars and looked out at the river. The moonlight shone on the snow, which was the only thing that could be distinguished from the landscape. The river was infinite darkness. "Those of your people who decide not to rot to death here on this wasteland end up in the Company of the Rose."</p><p>The other shoulder scoffed and responded to his provocation by saying, "And yet here you are, chasing after a woman who is not yours and will never be yours. I'll give you a week at best 'til Snow goes berserk with you."</p><p>Anger rose from his gut to his mouth but Daario decided to ignore it all.</p><p>"He doesn't seem like a particularly dangerous man. Too small," Daario shrugged it off.  "How does a man like Jon Snow end up where he is? From what I understand, he's nothing more than an oathbreaker and a traitor. He has defected every vow he has taken. Even those that beheld him to the woman he now calls wife and mother of his children."</p><p>"Do you remind me why you are talking to me, foreign man? Do you think I am the type of man to strike up a conversation with?" The man downed his drink in one gulp and threw his container aside in anger. "What the fuck does it matter? He has it. He's a fucking bastard who gets it all without deserving it."</p><p>"Now we are understanding each other."</p><p>The man reached out to grab Daario by the neck.</p><p>"What do you pretend, sellsword?"</p><p>"You are not happy. With Snow,” he explained, taking his hold in stride to suppress the compelling need to cut off his head as he could easily do right there. “A man who is as foreign to your people as we are. As it is Daenerys.” Daario looked him up and down. “And yet they have more recognition than you will ever meet in your life. I know what it feels."</p><p>The man released him and took a few steps back, his sharp gaze melting into confusion. He had hit the nail on the head, Daario thought. However, he backed off.</p><p>"I'm not interested," he said not convincingly, "I never wanted anything that he has," this time sounding surer of his words. Daario believed him, so he tried another approach.</p><p>"I've heard that since they've arrived here, your people are forbidden from certain forms of savagery." He chuckled a bit upon the inadvertent intrusion of a memory. "Daenerys used to do the same with the Dothraki. And do you know what happened every time those warriors couldn't handle their most basic instincts? The dragon ate them, in front of all the others so that the rest could see what happens when you disobey the Queen."</p><p>He missed her; missed the person she was before coming to Westeros.</p><p>"But that among the Dothraki was exciting and entertaining. For me as well. I always saw her as this goddess who had descended from the heavens. And I had her for me. <em>I had her</em>. And Snow was capable to put out that fire, why? Because he couldn't bear what she really is."</p><p>The wildling man twisted his mouth in disgust but there was also something like recognition in his eyes.</p><p>"I saw her. She doesn't burn," he said as if recalling the image that Daario knew he had in his mind. The same image he had burned in since Vaes Dothrak.</p><p>"Exactly."</p><p>He went back to see Daario with distrust.</p><p>"You condemn treason, but are you capable of betraying Daenerys?"</p><p>"I don't want to betray Daenerys. I want to get rid of Jon Snow," he flatly confessed. Had he not seen and sensed this man's anger at the man he was rivaling, Daario would not have been so definite. "And the children, just as soon."</p><p>"Don't count on me," he stated, and there Daario realized that it was a mistake to include the children in that statement. "It's going to be easier for the gods to reincarnate than for the free folk to betray Jon Snow…"</p><p>Daario caught a hint of consideration that had nothing to do with his restrain toward hurting the children.</p><p>"And you?" Daario asked tentatively.</p><p>The other man snorted.</p><p>"How do you plan to have the Dragon Queen again if you plan to hurt those she loves the most. I don't see how this doesn't end with you in some ditch, well-eaten by the dragon or the wolves."</p><p>Daario smiled almost lost in his own thoughts. He knew the risk and yet he didn't care. It was as if he could only have one goal in mind that he was sure he could achieve.</p><p>"Because I plan to leave her with no options, as she left me."</p><p> </p><p><strong>Daenerys (XLII)</strong><br/>
 </p><p>Daenerys wiped away a bead of sweat that ran down her temple without noticing that she was staining it with mud as she continued to cut grooves through the soil in preparation for sowing. The soft buzz of other people's talk and field work relaxed her in a way that no palace in Braavos could all the while she reckoned the matters of the village that needed to be tended.</p><p>Yaks cattle had been herded to higher ground to graze with the other animals while the pigs roamed more freely until the time came to herd and slaughter them. The horses were kept close for transportation, alongside dairy cows, sheep and goats that had to be milked daily.</p><p>Due to the harsh climate in these lands, livestock would have to be kept indoors, which meant they had to grow enough hay to keep it alive in the meantime. In addition, they would have to grow barley, rye, and oats as well for their own sake. Even some apple orchards.</p><p>It was the right time for plowing, sowing the crops, and harvesting as they continued to work on conditioning the village by repairing fences, mucking out animal stalls, gathering wood or dung for fires, making or repairing tools, milking cows and sheep, and feeding chickens and ducks. The arrival of a tender spring had helped improve their chances of survival here while still relied heavily on the trade in Hardhome and the farming of the lands of the Gift.</p><p>"I never imagined you as a farmer."</p><p>She shuddered when she heard Daario's voice coming from behind. She turned around to find him at some distance, calmly standing with his gloved hands folded in front of him, watching her intently.</p><p>Daenerys returned an annoyed look.</p><p>"You never saw me as anything other than the Mother of Dragons," she replied, taking a few steps back.</p><p>He nodded but he didn't look convinced by that statement.</p><p>"That role suited you very well, Daenerys," he argued. "Reigning is your thing. Even here."</p><p>"I am not the queen here."</p><p>"They call your husband King. By definition, you would be his queen."</p><p>Daenerys snorted and planted the plow in the dirt, leaning on it.</p><p>"People here don't kneel," she stated almost proudly. "They call upon a king when the time demands it."</p><p>He chuckled.</p><p>"You have taken this culture very seriously. For him, I take. You have given too much for him."</p><p>"And he has given a lot for me as well," she declared. Then, she cocked her head. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work. There's no way you can hurt us," she assured him.</p><p>Daario raised his hands in a sign of surrender and turned to leave.</p><p>She narrowed her eyes in his direction before sighing and going back to what she was doing.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"MAMA!" </p><p>Jorian bumped into her in an embrace. The bun that held his silver hair was intact, that same morning, he had demanded to wear it tied up like Jon's.</p><p>Dany bussed him on the cheek.</p><p>"How's that going?" she asked looking at the bow he carried in his right hand.</p><p>"I don't like it! I'm bad at it. I prefer my sword, but Papa says I have to at least learn to loose," he complained as they walked through the training field. </p><p>Dany wanted to see Missella too. Together they could go find Dalya and go back to their home. And even maybe look for Jon as well. Now that she was with her family, she craved moments with them alone and away from the rest of the world.</p><p>"Missella is better than me. Dalra says so," he commented in an unbothered tone.</p><p>"You can be as good as your sister. And she can also learn to use a sword," yet Daenerys encouraged him.</p><p>Her thoughts went to Dalra, the archer girl in charge of training the village children. In Braavos, Jon had mentioned her concisely which made Daenerys even more curious about her. Upon returning and meeting her, that curiosity turned into irrational apprehension.</p><p>It didn't help to know that she was discouraging Jorian.</p><p>"I am very bad, Mama. But I will show you my sword-fighting moves. Papa taught me lots of it. I can be good like him."</p><p>"I'm sure you will."</p><p>Dany smiled at the sight of her daughter –she was in a row with other children, in position to nock, draw and loose. They loosened and Missella was the only one who reached the target.</p><p>A shout of celebration came from Daenerys inadvertently, causing Missella to whip around. At the same time, Dalra came over to pat Missella's back and point at her,</p><p>"Mama is here, bantling. We can continue tomorrow."</p><p>"You may excuse me, Dalra," Dany came forward with a stride. "We weren't introduced properly."</p><p>"It is not necessary; I do remember you <em>from that time</em>."       </p><p><em>She must have been a little girl back then</em>, Dany thought. Dalra looked like any spearwife with that tough countenance but her youth made her an interesting sight, to say the least, with her reddish hair and green-hazel eyes.</p><p>"Can I stay a little longer?" Missella claimed their attention. Her voice came out quivering and timid. She was looking at her and Jorian with pleading eyes, almost as if she was asking them to go without her. Daenerys blinked, confused. </p><p>"We have to take our supper," she answered.</p><p>"I am not hungry yet," Missella said.</p><p>"You will and that will make you slow," Dalra spurred her lightly, "Go, go, bantling." </p><p>Missella walked in low spirits. Dany opened her mouth to say something but then closed it in bewilderment. She looked at Dalra one last time and she looked at Dany as well with a nod that seemed to mean nothing but felt terribly invasive -her own daughter needing someone else to reassure her to go with her, her mother. Dany knew she had no one to blame but herself, even if jealousy stung her.</p><p>Even as they returned to the cabin, Dalya in her arms fiddling with the necklace of bones on her neck that Jorian had gifted her, Dany had her eyes on Missella. Not even Dalya rejected her or preferred the company of someone else (other than Jon) over hers. It was grievous.</p><p>Her thoughts had driven her so far that she only heard the heated argument between the twins when Jorian shouted at her. "Mama," he whipped his face at Daenerys, "Tell Missella dragons are real!"</p><p>Daenerys raised an eyebrow and looked over at Missella. Although she had not been present last night when she read that story to Jorian, Jon and Dany had assumed that the children had already taken Drogon's existence as true.</p><p>"Why do you think they are not?" </p><p>"Munda told us they were just tales," Missella explained. </p><p>"Mama told me last night her dragon is called Dragon," Jorian told her.</p><p>"<em>Drogon</em>," Dany corrected him. "They are real, indeed-"</p><p>"In your tales?" Missella interrupted her.    </p><p>"No. He is real. He is my chi-" This time Daenerys stopped herself from going on. She couldn't yet tell them everything about it. </p><p>"Can you make him come here? We can see him from afar as we saw Ghost's puppies," Missella prompted, sounding enthusiastic about it. </p><p>Dany swallowed hard and frowned. <em>If it were that simple</em>. If something in their lives were that simple.</p><p>She looked down at her daughter who returned an expectant stare.</p><p>"Drogon is far away. Farther than are the wolves," Dany had no other explanation for them.</p><p>The girl let out a frustrated snort. When they got ahead of her again, she heard her whisper to her brother, "I told you. It's just a tale."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>A faint smile formed on her face at the sight in front of her: Jon lying on the ground holding a giggling Dalya in the air. Dany was able to get hold of her young daughter's attention for a while until her father came and she ran after him. Jorian and Missella were in their room, where Daenerys knew that if she walked in, would find the latter already asleep. </p><p>"I met Dalra, the archer girl, today," she told her husband, moving the contents of her bowl from side to side with the wooden spoon. </p><p>"You met her the day we return," he replied, absent. His attention was more involved in entertaining their babe daughter than in hearing her thoughts.</p><p>Dany sighed heavily but followed up.</p><p>"Missella is affectionate towards her. And she doesn't give her affections idly, so I assume this young girl must be rather a special kind."</p><p>She glared at him, not deliberately. </p><p>Jon frowned, lowering Dalya to the ground while inviting her to go to where Ghost was lying down, wagging his tail for the girl to chase.</p><p>"Where are you going with this, Daenerys?" </p><p>She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I don't like her when she calls our children bantlings. They are not bastards."</p><p>"She calls all children that way. Do you think being a bastard is something wrong?"</p><p>"You know I didn't mean that."   </p><p>"It'd be something new since you didn't care before."</p><p>Dany's anger stirred for some unknown reason to her. </p><p>"You are not a bastard," she reminded him. It had been something implicit between the two, of the many things they had taken for granted. Or so she believed.</p><p>"I am not subject of this conversation," Jon said, reaching a pitch in his voice revealed slight dismay.</p><p>"You are a Targaryen. I am a Targaryen. Our children are Targaryens."</p><p>"Is this again something I'm missing? Something within you?" </p><p>She was upset and couldn't deny that. It showed in her stiff posture and blunt responses. So great was the hurt for her daughter's rejection that she fell again she was failing. </p><p>"We just..." Dany hesitated, "We just need to find our way back with them."</p><p>Jon reached for her hand and stroked its back reassuringly. His other hand caressed her cheek as he looked into her eyes. </p><p>"Together, remember?" </p><p>Dany nodded and kissed his fingers, reminding herself that this was her family and her true home.</p><p>Dalya interrupted them when she came running to take Jon's hand and imitate Dany's gesture, causing them to laugh.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Look, look," Jorian gestured excitedly, "I put my foot like this and my knee, and <em>dass!</em>"</p><p>When he supported the full weight of his body on his head and arms on the bed, Dany made to hold him with her heart racing. Still, she smiled and congratulated him. Jorian giggled and crawled over her to lie down. Dany kissed his forehead.</p><p>At that moment, Jon stilled on the entrance of their bedroom, having taken an asleep Dalya to the children's bed. She heard him puffed, frustrated.</p><p>"Jorian, you can't sleep here tonight," he said.</p><p>Their son's head whipped at him.</p><p>"Why not?" he asked, outraged.</p><p>Jon walked closer.</p><p>"Because you are a big boy now. Big boys sleep in their own bed."</p><p>"I am not <em>that</em> big. I want to be with you and Mama," he responded as he grabbed a tight hold of his mother's waist. Dany patted his back reassuringly.</p><p>"We are not going anywhere," she promised him. </p><p>The child made no attempt to heed his father.</p><p>"Jorian," Jon repeated, looming over them trying to detach Jorian from her. "Jorian," he said more forcefully.</p><p>"He can stay just this night," Dany interjected. Her arm holding Jorian in place had tightened at the same time, without her noticing.</p><p>"He cannot," Jon was emphatic.</p><p>Feeling the stung of challenge, she also stated, "He can and he will."</p><p>Jon backed up and looked at her confused. </p><p>"Fine," he said after a moment, seemly reluctant. "I'll sleep with Missella and Dalya. Someone has to take care of them."</p><p>She squinted at him as he left. <em>That sounded mean on purpose</em>. They hadn't argued since before sailing back but she recalled all too well how it was for them. </p><p>"Is Papa mad with me?" Jorian settled on Jon's side as he asked. </p><p>"No," Dany reassured him. <em>He is mad at me and I am mad at him</em>. "He loves you too much. He just left because he needs to take care of the girls and you, you need to take care of me, right?"</p><p>"Aye," he said proudly while hugging her and closing his eyes, "Avy jorrāelan, Muña."</p><p>In those days, they rarely spoke in their mother tongue. </p><p>"Avy jorrāelan sesīr tolī." <em>I love you even more</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Some sharp glances still followed her as she wandered the docks and the stalls around. In the morning the people of Wolves Den were proud of their habits and their old gods. Yet at night they approached her fires for comfort. Men who asked for fertility for their lands, women who prayed for children in their wombs, and children who out of curiosity entered her cabin to ask for sweets. Kinvara could sense the feeling of unity in this village, which was different from other wildling settlements. And it was all due Daenerys and Jon.</p><p>That is why she saw in the fire the enemy's forces, stirring.</p><p>Kinvara climbed up the slope that Daenerys had made her refuge, physical and spiritual.</p><p>"You're torturing your mind with senseless fear, Daenerys," Kinvara scolded her, coming up behind her a Daenerys was overseeing the activity below. "What did I tell you before? About seeing your family as a burden and not your strength?"</p><p>"I don't see them as a burden," she stated.</p><p>"You look at them with apprehension and your heart becomes heavy at the thought of losing them. And who can blame you? Life has shown you time and again that she will have no mercy on taking those you love the most. There is nothing you can do to fight against what is already decided. But you can choose between letting that knowledge weigh you down along the way, or having faith and letting that faith lighten your burden. "</p><p>The fierce queen avoided Kinvara's piercing gaze. Then she cleared her throat, and asked in an earnest tone, "Lyrissos?"</p><p>Kinvara smiled.</p><p>"All in due time, my Queen. The black candles are yet not burning."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Winterfell</strong>
</p><p>She didn't know how long she stood there in front of his door, but it was quite a while before she gathered the courage to finally knock. The door creaked open and her husband appeared on the other side.</p><p>"Sansa?" He asked himself before clearing his throat. "My Queen."</p><p>Sansa crossed the threshold, shrugging off his confusion. She stopped short when she was confronted with the image of the same maid who had been haunting his quarters since the day he had settled in Winterfell. The woman who had bored him a bastard child just at the same time she’d given him an heir.</p><p>"Your Grace," she also greeted her. Her face streaked with shame. She was picking up the cooing infant in her arms, hurrying to get him and herself out of the room.</p><p>The woman lowered her head and hurried out of there.</p><p>Sansa heard the door close.</p><p>"That wasn't–,"</p><p>"I don't care," Sansa interrupted him before he could give explanations that were neither required nor interesting to her. She turned to meet his eyes with a quiet countenance. "Your bastard son does not pose a threat any more than the other children you have left in your homeland, Harry."</p><p>"I never implied that," he said, with a smirk.</p><p>She clapped her hands on her front.</p><p>"Have you decided to march with our army to the west?"</p><p>"Of course; what another way there is to boost the morale of an army do you know?"</p><p><em>A common enemy</em>, she thought to reply but kept it to herself. She had come up with a clear goal in mind for that night.</p><p>She gulped hard. "I'm glad you make the battles of the North your own," she tried to begin with a compliment. "You may not be their king but you are part of us now. Your blood also runs in the veins of their future king."</p><p>She heard him sigh heavily.</p><p>"Their future king," he murmured.</p><p>She understood what was implicit in his reaction. With every day that passed, it was a miracle that their son was alive. He was a sick, crying little thing who did little more than sleep and whimper. If not for the loving and dedicated care of Maester Wolkan, Sansa was certain that this child would not be alive.</p><p>That is why she had come to a conclusion after spending weeks pondering it. It had never been an option to settle for a single heir. Her mother had given birth, almost without any problem, to five children and Sansa had to bear witness to being her blood and to deliver at least the same amount. It was her duty as queen and as the last of the Starks.</p><p>She looked back at her husband. If she allowed herself to forget for a moment everything she disliked about him, she could see a handsome man that any other woman in her place would have been grateful to call her husband. Sansa had given up all those thoughts at some point and had forgotten what it felt like to be a stupid maiden.</p><p>"You never pay a visit, except for one thing, My Queen," Harry quickly deduced. She had been staring at the ground when he approached with a goblet in his hand extended towards her. She accepted and drank from it hastily. Harry had begun to undo the ties on his jerkin. "And I, as a good husband, am pleased to please my Queen."</p><p>Everything had started well, even pleasantly, her mind clouded by the effect of the wine. It wasn't until she closed her eyes and opened them again that the image of Harry had turned back to Ramsey, that she started and pushed him away from her.</p><p>"Seven hells!" her husband cursed. "This must be a bad joke. After all this time? We will never have a healthy child if you don't stop acting like a bloody, stupid girl."</p><p>"I-I-I'm s-sorry," she found herself stammering as if she was to blame that this was happening again. She was trying to calm herself by taking deep breaths.</p><p>"Come here," she urged, claiming on the bed and spreading her legs to greet him, in the same passive position as always. But then he did something he had never done before when he straddled her suddenly. "What are you doing?" she became uneasy.</p><p>"I am leaving for a few days, my Queen. I will not waste our time."</p><p>Sansa began to squirm beneath him in desperation to get out of his grip but he was so much bigger than her in every way.</p><p>"I order you to release me, right now!"</p><p>"Queen you might be, but here between my sheets, you are my wife as well."</p><p>"Let go of me, Harry."</p><p>He started tying her to the bedposts. Even though her mind was racing trying to find an escape, it was as if she was in a state of shock. She did not want the guards to walk in to encounter that scene and rumors to be further fed through Winterfell of the dire condition of her marriage. Her head turned and she found the solution.</p><p>With her loose hand, Sansa reached for the goblet he had placed on the table next to the bed, and with all her might, she hit Harry with it. The object snapped against his head, cutting his skin and her hand.</p><p>She tried to jump off the bed but found herself tied up. In the despair, she had also injured her arm, but she managed to untie herself and run to where her clothes were, cover herself with them, and escape from the room.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She closed the door and threw herself to the ground, hiding her head between her legs as tears wet her cheeks. Her entire body was shaking. How would she go about trusting Harry with her body now? How would she go about bearing more children? </p><p>Then she heard the soft cooing coming from her bedchamber. It was the child.</p><p>Sansa walked inside, glancing over at the boy - skinny and reddish by the spots on his skin. Carefully as Maester Wolkan taught her, she picked him up and watched him as his crying worsened.</p><p>"You have to live," she also cried, pleading. "You have to live, Eddard," she said flatly, moving towards the bed with her son barely breathing against her chest.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Why we can't be or see who cuts us asunder.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This, I said in my latest update:</p><p>Full chapter will be up this week most likely. Unless something catastrophic happens which is totally plausible these days. </p><p>I will never say that again. Just not. January was crazy.</p><p>This chapter took me forever. Maybe it's the fact that I don't know how to compress information, lol, the lawyer in me speaking - literally our job is to argue, and argue, and argue. </p><p>And write a lot.</p><p>I had to divide it in two, of course.</p><p>I originally divided the chapter into three sections but it was not working for the type of events I wanted to tell.</p><p>Right now it's three in the morning, February 9 where I live, so at some point of this day I'll upload the rest of the chapter (calm down, it's already written) but this has a cliffhanger and, yes, I want that to settle down before going on to deal with what is truly important (Daario fucking dying).</p><p>Happy new year by the way. I hope you are having a good time. </p><p>Keep taking care of yourself.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>25.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Why we can't be or see who cuts us asunder.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Lyrissos (II)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Volantis.</strong>
</p><p>Lyrissos arranged the stones in the decorative container it's been placed on the table, sorting them out by color and size. He was so focused on it that he actually was caught off guard when he heard an awkward hawk from across the room.</p><p>On a four-poster bed, a true beauty spread out. She had brown skin, shiny black hair styled in waves, and a sapphire gaze that could leave anyone else mesmerized. The price for her had been high — the highest, to tell the truth.</p><p>Lyrissos smiled apologetically and leaned back against the back of the coucher.</p><p>“It is not my intention to get you bored, my Lady. You can come by and contemplate the beauty of these stones with me,” he invited her. “At first glance, they don't seem interesting, but their artificial colors tell a story and I can be the voice of them. If you allow me."</p><p>The woman exhaled, annoyed. She threw her long legs over the other side of the bed and walked over to him, sitting across from him, but on the floor. Arms resting on the table, she feigned attention. </p><p>"Very good," Lyrissos said with a smile. He hadn't intended to stop that long — the stones had really caught his eye. “This blue is only available in Tyrosh. They extract it from a plant that bears the name of <em>indigofera</em>. It is an extremely difficult pigment to come by, there have been stories of lords who have paid a fortune to just have a little of it to please their demanding wives,” he said as he peeled the surface of the stone to extract the color. Lyrissos sighed. "The things we do for love," he commented when a mound of dust was left on the table. He gazed at his company in front of him. Her long arms were uniformly decorated by gold bangles — except for her left wrist, where a simple chain decorated with precious stones encircled it.</p><p>Lyrissos thought that it was entirely feasible that her services would be worth her cost, but he was not naive to think that what came from using her services would ever touch the palm of her hands.</p><p>He reached out his arm and took the woman's left hand, taking a closer look at the chain. He scooped up some of the powder on the table and rubbed it over her smooth skin, painting it a vibrant blue.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Lyrissos closed the door behind him as he left the splendid room, rumors of feigned pleasures filling his ears. Two escorts awaited him in the hallway to whom he nodded as he crossed the path to the exit. With this woman, there had already been seven prostitutes that he had interviewed in search of the one who had the answer he was looking for, or rather, the person or persons. He didn't know of mercenaries who paid that much for the company, but Indigo and the other seven, there was someone who enjoyed paying for the best of it. One of those seven women had been the one who spotted Jon Snow that day, he had concluded when he looked out from the balcony of the temple. And one of them had informed someone from the Second Sons.</p><p>Now, Lyrissos knew nothing about this man, Daario Naharis. He seemed like the kind of man to get by on the road, an improviser. That had been a stroke of luck, a factor that played to his advantage when he least expected it. For a moment, he considered taking care of the seven girls to end the problem that plagued the mother of dragons but more efficient would be to also deal with the informants of Naharis who should not be far from there, given their apparent taste for expensive, exotic things.</p><p><em>Poor girl</em>, he thought, <em>she has no idea that she carries enough wealth with her to get out of here once and for all</em>. </p><p>He descended the steps to the street and put his hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky where until not long a dragon was flying overhead.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Val (V)</b>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Wolves Den</strong>.</p><p>Although Kalea was older than the dragonwolves children, in size and looks they were almost the same. All but the obvious coloring of her skin and eyes. Yet, they were not who reluctantly kept themselves away but the other way around, Kalea refused to take a single step toward the other children.</p><p>"Come on," Val encouraged her daughter. She had her dark hair lifted in a high braid like Val's own. "Come on, walk closer."</p><p>Kalea whined at the shoving of her mother but finally relented, standing in front of the dragonwolves' children who stared at her curiously. </p><p>"Jorian, Missella, you could make good use of your manners now," Daenerys prompted them with a commanding tone. The Dragon Queen's presence was not unfamiliar to her daughter. </p><p>"Where were you? I didn't see you before," asked the boy, Jorian. "Are you from some other clan?"</p><p>Kalea stared sharply, perhaps taking in the words that still sounded strange for her. </p><p>"She comes from Braavos. Do you remember Braavos?" Daenerys answered before Val had to rummage in her mind for some far-fetched explanation. </p><p>"Yes! It is where we used to live!" Jorian excitedly said. His eyes settled on Kalea when he asked her, "Have you seen the Titan of Braavos?"</p><p>Kalea kept undaunted. Val could remember the gigantic statue herself —her people had been rapt at the first sight of it from afar. Yet Kalea was just a child and her mind fragile. </p><p>"She is very new to all of this, my love. Do you remember when we first came here with Papa? How you were cold all the time?" Daenerys interjected.</p><p>"And my nose got red! And my eyes were crusty as well!" </p><p>And so the most garrulous child of Daenerys and Jon began his incessant chatter until little by little the three children shuffled to lie on the skin-carpeted floor to hold an insubstantial conversation.</p><p>It was enough to catch and hold Kalea's attention at times when the girl was not turning her gaze to make sure of Val's presence. Every time she did so however, Val felt a strong pressure in her chest like the one mothers must feel when they see their little children seek for their protection. Val wasn't sure if that was the case with her because she hadn't given birth to Kalea herself but she had decided to love her as her daughter and as such, accept all that entailed. </p><p>Which was not the case with Jarl. He could not feel it because men needed to see in their children an extension of their blood. She knew it and had accepted to risk when she brought Kalea with her.</p><p>She'd hoped that because of his love for her he would eventually understand.</p><p>Val took a deep breath as she watched her daughter relax in the company of the other children. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Val had seen Jarl return from his explorations and give her an annoyed look before ignoring her and going a different path. The gesture made her hands clench into fists. </p><p>Her attention diverted then to where men were shouting audibly in another language.</p><p><em>The foreign soldiers</em>.</p><p>Val passed in front of them purposely and exchanged a long, fearless, challenging gaze. When she walked on, a sly grin drawn on her icy face, knowing exactly what she was inciting.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She looked over her shoulder and couldn't help but feeling smug. The man following her was not one of their own, of course. No one within the walls of Wolves Den would've made such a stupid decision.</p><p>Val took the path that led to the slope, taking long strides through the mounds of snow. This was her element, not the flat stone roads in the city of Braavos. Given the moment, she stopped and turned, when her shadow left discretion.</p><p>A man with a sharp, menacing look was behind her.</p><p>They didn't speak as he lunged on top of her, using all his strength to drive her against his body and the tree behind her. In fact, she felt the blow of her head against the wood startled her. </p><p>The discomfort produced by his unwanted touch began to grow as Val searched in the darkness for some movement. The knife inside her boot burned as if it was calling for her. When the foreign man tried to put his hand inside her breeches, then she felt something attack him from behind, a knife that had pierced his neck from the back, causing him to retch with blood.</p><p>The man released her and reached uselessly to her throat, dropping to his knees in front of her as he drowned in his own blood.</p><p>Her gaze lifted to find Jarl's blazing, angry eyes in the darkness of the forest.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (V)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Somewhere along the Northern Mountains</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>None of his people knew of this path he had found exploring the western part of the Northern Kingdom, through the passages of the mountains that were not inhabited by the mountain lords Snow had warned them about. He himself had found a couple of them on his way, but in those days the threat did not come from his people but the ironborn who were raiding and pillaging the cities of the coast, with the intention of continuing up to the mountains. Jarl couldn't help but wonder if among the latter two, which would be the most worthy contender for his people.</p><p>It embittered him to remember what had become of his people, lagging behind in a life of apparent calm.</p><p>Jarl watched from a safe distance the aftermath of an attack by the Ironborn on the coastal town. It was time for the Free Folk to go back to their old ways too.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><strong>Wolves Den</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>He ran a hand over his face as he walked home, imagining the ways he would deal with Val — separation was not a strange thing to them, after all — when he glimpsed his wife's honey hair in the distance heading into the woods up the hillside. Behind her, a man.</p><p>His blood boiled with that familiar feeling. Jarl strode into the forest until he found them — the man pinning his woman against a tree as he moaned in his rush to take her. </p><p>It didn't take him too long to react. Jarl took the knife at his waist and struck it with a single blow, piercing his neck. </p><p><em>Did she know?</em> Jarl wondered as he watched the man bleed out, the gush of blood a dark river in the snow. He hadn't bothered to figure out who he was. From his garment he could tell that it was not someone among them, nor would anyone who knew them made such an unwise decision.</p><p>His eyes settled on his wife, her face still in a serious expression. Their late companion's blood running down her neck and staining her white furs. </p><p>A moment later, Jarl was one her, taking Val against that same tree, the inert body of the stranger forming a pool at their feet.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (X)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Almost daily he hovered on the deck of the ship to watch her cross a road from her home to the town and from there to the fields. <em>What could be called a field in this infertile land that she had chosen to inhabit</em>. Every day, the mere sight of Daenerys made Daario's groins burn and call for her. And every day at some point he would also see Jon Snow or the bastards he had sired her, and he would remember that she was not his.</p><p><em>Not for long</em>.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Daario bit back a snort when he saw Daenerys's boy hitting an opponent-shaped snow mound with a wooden sword, taking out some kind of anger at that. </p><p>Of all of them, the child was the one who elicited the least rejection in Daario and of course if he was the one who most reminisced his queen mother with that easy-to-turn temperament and the loose strands of silver hair that fell in waves on his shoulders.</p><p><em>If he were a girl, he would be just like Daenerys</em>.</p><p>After striking a low and forceful blow, Daario emerged from his hiding place and walked towards him sputtering: "If you strike upward the next time, you'll get a better angle."</p><p>The boy jumped with the wooden weapon raised defensively. A quick reaction.</p><p>Daario ignored his defensive stance to continue explaining what he intended to make him understand, all the while receiving a steel gaze, inescapable and unyielding.</p><p><em>His father's eyes</em>, he realized. <em>What a shame</em>, he lamented. If for a moment he considered keeping this one, he dismissed the idea immediately when he realized he was still carrying the bastard's trail in his looks. </p><p>"You are from the army of the sellswords," the boy blurted out. Daario couldn't recall his name.</p><p>"I am a friend of your mother," he said.</p><p>The mention of Daenerys made her son relax and look at him intently, though still suspicious. Then the lad frowned, still wary.</p><p>"Mama and Papa say I shouldn't talk to you," he remembered. </p><p>He sounded hesitant, like it was something he should remind himself of. Daario wondered if all children were always this stupid, he wouldn't know since he never spoke to them.</p><p>Daario looked to his sides and over his shoulder, sitting on his haunches to be level with the boy.</p><p>"But it is Mama here?" He smirked.</p><p>Breathing deeply, the boy shook his head. His eyes widened with a shadow of concern. Daario saw fear in his eyes and so he stepped back and gave him his space. He would not be the one to deal with them.</p><p>Then Daario remembered the question he had asked him on the docks that day.</p><p>"Have you heard of the bear knight?" Daario asked, hoping to attain his trust. </p><p>It was all he needed to say to make his shoulders sag and put a curious scowl on his face again.</p><p>"You knew him!"</p><p>Daario chuckled.</p><p>"We were old acquaintances. Yes."</p><p>"Ac...aqua?"</p><p>"I knew him, as I knew your mother," he grinned. "And as I knew Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal."</p><p>"Drogon? Mama's dragon?" Daenerys's son stared down at the ground thoughtfully. "Rhag ... al? Viserion?"</p><p>Daario stopped short, realizing that the boy did not know about the other two dragons that were dead. </p><p>He looked at him contemplatively, waiting for an answer.</p><p>"Do you want me to help you there?" </p><p>Daario changed the subject, circling the snowman.</p><p>"Papa says I must do it myself..."</p><p>"But Papa is not here, right?"</p><p><em>Jorian</em>. That was the name, Daario remembered. An honor to the bear knight. That old man who had died in the service of his queen, loving her deeply and correctly until the end.</p><p>Old Jorah stared in the distance what he could never have. Daario was not willing to go through the same thing.</p><p>"Right,"  Jorian said simply, picking up his toy sword again.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Daario was called that same night to appear in the great hall and he guessed that Jorian had been unable to fulfill his promise to keep his mouth shut about their meeting that morning. The boy was a born charlatan, he could not stop once he believed he had people's attention and that Daario used to his advantage, seeking to learn more about the nature of Daenerys' relationship with Jon Snow. Besides, he was in the need of a couple of lessons to improve that boring Westerosi style that his father imposed on him and Daario was more than comfortable supplying.</p><p>Daario simply stood where indicated, carefree posture and hands clasped in front. Jon Snow led the group of people who were gathered with serious and expectant expressions, perhaps ready to act on the man's orders.</p><p><em>Jarl</em>, he thought for a moment. A risky gamble on the part of Daario but out of all of them, the one who openly watched Jon Snow with dark and jealous eyes was the man who was not happy with the presence of the bastard among his people.</p><p>"Captain Naharis," began this one, sitting in the middle of the large table. Daenerys wasn't with him this time. "Captain Naharis, do you know why we have summoned you?"</p><p><em>Formality be damned</em>, Daario cursed.</p><p>"I guess not to invite me a decent drink," he scoffed, earning a few groans of annoyance on his back.</p><p>"A soldier of yours was killed," Jon Snow kept on, "Killed by our people."</p><p>Daario raised an eyebrow and looked between them. This eventuality, though unforeseen, did not take him by surprise in the least. His men had been circulating in town and looking for company to heat their cocks. What difference did it make if a couple of them ended up dead for fucking the wrong cunt.</p><p>"Very well," Daario replied indifferently. "If that is all—,"</p><p>"That's not all," Jon Snow interrupted. He hesitated before continuing as he looked among his people. "We don't want to quarrel or arouse resentment from your people. We have the culprits."</p><p>"Culprits?"</p><p>Daario heard footsteps behind him. A pair of familiar faces entered the great hall, both with hands tied and escorted by the women who were also warriors of the wildlings.</p><p>Silence. The two wildlings were stained with blood. Jarl and his warrior wife.</p><p>"In Wolves Den we are governed by order. A universal law. <em>No murder</em>," Jon Snow raised his voice behind him as Daario watched Jarl closely. "Val and Jarl knew this when they decided to go back to their old ways."</p><p>Daario turned around.</p><p>"Why did my man end up in the middle of these two, then? For seeking to get into someone else's wife's skirts?" he replied.</p><p>Jon Snow's eyes dropped to the couple.</p><p>"Because they sought it out," he stated, "Not for the first time."</p><p>Murmurs went off in the room and both men turned to see Daenerys arrive and stand in the front row, contrasting between the people. She had a serious expression on her face but if one paid enough attention would notice her mind reeling. </p><p>Daario took a breath and nodded.</p><p>"What does your law say?" he asked Jon Snow though the question might well be directed at the men and women around them —the people who truly belonged to this place.</p><p>"A life for a life," someone answered from behind.</p><p>"A foreign life shouldn't count as murder," replied another. And so on until someone banged against the table to stop the noise that was being created.</p><p>Daenerys' husband rose from his seat on the other side of the long table, his eyes dark and serious on Daario.</p><p>"What is your response to this attack on your people?"</p><p>Daario shrugged.</p><p>"He chose his fate," he simply replied, receiving some whistles and groans. "My men know that must rule their basic instincts. They have known that since," Daario tentatively looked up at Daenerys, "Since our queen has wanted it that way."</p><p>He watched her take a breath.</p><p>"Of course, people that do not respond to any person and is used to living under no law is going to be more likely to live outside of it. Let's leave it at that this time unless it becomes a much greater problem. In which case," he hesitated and glanced to Daenerys, "We will follow our queen's order."</p><p>Daario could feel the sharp look the bastard was giving him. Around them, he could hear dissonant voices.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Wildlings and their own would congregate and mingle under a pergola to share that strong and disgusting drink. It was there that Daario found Jarl.</p><p>"I assume from the fact that I still don't have a small man beheading me that you've at least been considering my proposal," he said as he took a seat on the stone bench in front of him. "Much more after everything that has happened between your beautiful wife and my soldier."</p><p>The wildling man drank from his curved horn before lowering it and muttered a stern warning under his breath. "Never talk about my wife."</p><p>Daario chuckled.</p><p>After a while, Jarl nodded.</p><p>"Our people have only progressed ever since they arrived," he said clearly in reference to Jon and Daenerys. "But it is also true that they begin to forget their roots. Where we come from and what we are."</p><p>"Sometimes, to move on, you have to loosen certain ties."</p><p>Daario himself had done it the day he decided to devote his life and his heart to Daenerys, even if she was still unable to see that.</p><p>This time it was his companion who let out a skeptical chuckle.</p><p>"How?" he asked, "How do you get Daenerys not to kill you for even thinking of hurting her family?"</p><p>"Why should she? She won't know. The only thing Daenerys will know is that the people she considered hers have deserted her and I am the only one there for her."</p><p>A stern look. "That puts my people in danger."</p><p>"I'm taking her," Daario blurted out. "When it happens, <em>if it happens</em>, I am taking her away and by the time she finds out, you will save your people from her wrath."</p><p>"She has a dragon. And the red witch."</p><p>"Nothing that can't be removed or controlled." Daario felt cornered. Of course, his plan was not well defined yet but he would know what to do when the time came. He had always done it that way. "Once we return to Essos, it will be impossible for her to return. I will take care of it. You have my word. But I need to loosen the ties that bind her to this continent."</p><p>"Have you ever heard that you have to let go of what you love to know if it is really yours?"</p><p>His sudden thoughtfulness took Daario by surprise but he didn't back down.</p><p>"I don't wait for things to come to me. I go for them and take them."</p><p>The wildling man swallowed hard, squinting at him. He finally nodded and let out a held breath.</p><p>"I know of a tribe that doubles our numbers and they have been eager to take over Wolves Den and Hardhome ever since we settled," he admitted. "We can pass it off as an attack from the outside. It has happened before. The strong eat the weak. And my people at this moment are made up of the fainthearted who have lagged behind."</p><p>"Alright. When?" Daario said trying to contain his excitement.</p><p>Jarl rose from his seat, ready to leave.</p><p>"In a fortnight," he said before leaving.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Tyrion (XVIII)</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Water Gardens.</strong>
</p><p>Stepping into the tub of scalded water, Tyrion felt like he was being bathed in fire. Purified by it. He shook the thoughts out of his head, remembering those were words long ago uttered by the red priestesses in the alleys of the Great Bridge of Volantis that harangued Daenerys as their red lord's chosen one. </p><p>Those were days long ago and if the gods, those tremendous bastards, were good, then Tyrion would never set foot in the East again.</p><p>Tyrion heard a giggle coming from the end of the tub, where a smiling Shae was looking at him with amused, mischievous eyes. He dipped his hands in the water and pricked his eyes, blinking to find only the emptiness of her absence.</p><p>
  <em>It's not real.</em>
</p><p><em>She's dead</em>.</p><p>He changed into garments that had barely been suitable for his size and quickly he was escorted by the Dornish royal guard to where his presence was required. He knew he had to see Penny but was also aware that anything he requested would be denied. So he just obeyed.</p><p>They took him to open chambers that overlooked the beach. The air was scented with lemons and something sweeter.</p><p>"Your friend is a sad soul," he heard Princess Arianne say, who strode into the room from a side entrance. She wore a loosened, silky dress that accentuated every curve of her body. A true dornish beauty that dried his throat and made him crave some wine to quell the sudden thirst. "My maids have helped her where they could but she is wilder than expected."</p><p>"She's been through a lot of bad times," Tyrion replied. He raised his arms and pointed at the flagon of wine. "I would bother my Princess if...?"</p><p>The princess lifted her chin and then glared at him.</p><p>She nodded to signal the servants to pour wine at the table where he then motioned for him to sit down. That way they were almost on the balcony, a salty breeze kissing his cheek.</p><p>"We have informed King Bran of your presence, my Lord," she began as dishes of assorted colors were placed in front of them. Tyrion shifted in his seat feeling his belly growl. He hoped Penny was enjoying the same kindness. "My brother is rather anxious to send you back to King's Landing."</p><p>"I'd rather go home sooner rather than later," he replied, bringing the wine glass to his mouth and taking a long sip. He almost choked on the sour taste.</p><p>"Dornish wines are generally sour, though they occasionally can be richer of taste," commented the Princess taking her own glass and making it sway in her grip, "Strongwines from Dorne are as dark as blood, with a sweet taste," she said and sipped with the ease of one used to it. Princess Arianne frowned. "Did you say home, my lord? I thought the home of a Lannister was Casterly Rock."</p><p>He helped himself to the feast. Tiny fish rolled in salt and cooked crisp. Varieties of fruits that he couldn't even remember their names. Pastries, cream swans, spun-sugar unicorns, spiced honey biscuits, and apple crisps served as dessert. Seeing so much food suddenly turned his stomach, hunger turning to apprehension.</p><p>His hands clenched and Tyrion looked up.</p><p>"Well, apparently, I stopped being considered a Lannister the day I jabbed two arrows into my father while he was shitting himself."</p><p>They said the Dornishmen have a reputation for hot-bloodedness, so it did not surprise him when the Princess hide a smile beneath her glass.</p><p>Tyrion pretended not to see bits of the past repeat when he repressed the images of Daenerys in all her splendor sitting across from him. </p><p>"We have a lot to talk about, Tyrion Lannister," she said.</p><p>"Of what for example?" he replied as he tentatively chewed on her food. "I am not authorized by my King to share state affairs with—,"</p><p>"I don't care what your king has to say. Nobody cares," she stated smugly. "Take a look around you. You're not in your element. Whatever I ask, you'll answer. That or," she smiled and glanced toward the door behind him. One of those smiles he remembered from his sister Cersei. "Your friend is not important to King Bran, or to anyone honestly."</p><p>Tyrion wiped his mouth with a napkin.</p><p>"Prince Oberyn said—,"</p><p>"My Uncle Oberyn is dead," she was blunt, "Partly to save that head of yours. And many people after him, you've survived them all. I want to know <em>how</em>."</p><p>"Saying it's my wits isn't it enough?"</p><p>"You've come too far to blame your wits."</p><p>"So it's luck. Or the gods' design. In what do the good people of Dorne believe?"</p><p>"I don't believe in gods, maybe they exist or maybe they don't. I believe they do not care for we are insignificant beings. Maybe they have actually put us in this world to take from it what we want."</p><p>Tyrion raised his glass and brought it to his mouth.</p><p>"And what does the princess of Dorne want?"</p><p>"Let's talk about Jon Snow."</p><p>Tyrion choked on the wine.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Again she had awakened before him.</p><p>As she listened to the soft snoring of her husband next to her, Dany counted the patterns carved into the wood on the ceiling. They had another big argument about Jorian last night, and this time Jon didn't give up. So it was Dany who went to sleep with the boy in the children's bedroom, returning to her bed once Jorian was sound asleep.</p><p>After a while, she felt Jon's hand move over hers, which rested on her belly. Dany raised her other hand to wrap it over. The distance between them was palpable but she did not stop needing and loving him.</p><p>"They're not happy," she said, thinking about the night before. It had been so long since Val and Jarl had gotten into trouble that she hadn't expected them to fall out of favor with her husband again.</p><p>"They won't always be happy," Jon shrugged it off.</p><p>Dany lay down on her side and brought his hand under her head.</p><p>"We should grant them some concessions," she suggested. "We can't always control their wild streak."</p><p>Not even with the Dothraki had she successfully done that. A culture that had lived under no laws for so long was not prone to abide so easily. Circumstances had made him flexible with Jon and Daenerys due to all the history they shared but that was still not enough. Dany was beginning to fear that they were taking a wrong step, abusing the goodwill of the Free Folk.</p><p>Jon was looking at her with a frown.</p><p>"What do you suggest?"</p><p>She sighed.</p><p>"I don't know. I was hoping you would fill in the voids."</p><p>At that little tease, he laughed. Her heart fluttered at the sound of it and she was soon crossing one leg around his waist and straddling him. She bent her head to kiss him and pretend for a moment that there was no problem between them or that in a few seconds the door would open with Dalya scampering to their bed.</p><p>However, it was Jon who pulled away.</p><p>He held her face inches from him with a strong grip.</p><p>"Never contradict me in front of our son," he stated sternly. </p><p>Dany needed a moment to take in his words, blinking stiffly as she looked into his steel eyes.</p><p>"I-I was not," she mumbled. </p><p>"When he sees us challenging each other, Jorian thinks he can choose a side. And there are no sides here, Daenerys. Either we are together or not."</p><p>Daenerys felt her blood run hot in her veins. </p><p>She bent even lower to answer just as adamant, "I'm not one of your fucking trainees, you won't discipline me on how to be a parent to my children."</p><p>Jon's grip tightened and then immediately loosened. It was as if cold water fell on them for they suddenly parted and she fell back onto her side of the bed. Even if she wanted to agree with him, she felt betrayed and insulted by his berate.</p><p>Dany clicked her tongue and looked away.</p><p>It was one thing to feel deficient as a ruler, always someone having to allay her temper but that he wanted to do it when it came to her children, just made her blood boil. For four years she had done it on her own. By what right could he tell her that she was doing it wrong now?</p><p>"Are you listening to yourself?" Jon commented under his breath as if he was reading her thoughts. He probably had, knowing her so well.</p><p>The door opened and Dalya's little silver-haired head peered into the room before entering fully and running to the bed, leaping to place herself in the space between her parents.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Missella, sweetling," Dany called her daughter. Normally in the mornings, Jon and the children would leave on their own as she stayed back with Dalya until she also started her daily chores. "Would you like to join me today?"</p><p>Missella was halfway out, her bow in hand. At her mother's call, the girl had turned slowly walked inside again.</p><p>"I have to train, Mama," she excused herself in almost a whisper.</p><p>"It'd be just today. Like we used to." <em>Before I left</em>, Dany almost added but she stopped herself before she could utter the words. Admit what had left them there.</p><p>Of course, Missella hesitated and that made Daenerys breathe deeply, hurt, remembering when she was everything in her daughter's eyes. It might have also been an inevitable consequence of her growing up but she couldn't help but fight it tooth and nail.</p><p>"Fine," Missella said softly, putting the bow aside.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany had not returned to this place since those days when she had been too dejected to even form a coherent memory of it. Only the snowy mountains and the gray, infinite sky above their settlement. She had had to leave the seclusion at Wolves Den to climb up there, to her shelter. </p><p>Missella had stayed in her company a short time before Dany mercy gave in to her long gazes toward the door and sent her to her training with Dalra, where her daughter always craved to be. </p><p>If anything, it was Daenerys fault, she knew, just as she knew Jon's anger was in the right place. The sense of failure was a crushing weight.</p><p>The sound that came behind her must have made her jump but it didn't, she knew who would follow her there. It had been Kinvara first but she would not come a second time.</p><p>"I just came to lend you some company," he said, "I know that underneath all that tough image you intend to show, there is the same young woman who just wants and needs to be loved."</p><p>Daenerys laughed bitterly.</p><p>"You speak as if you know me, Daario."</p><p>"I know you," he insisted.</p><p>Daenerys turned to glare at him.</p><p>"No, you don't. You never have," she rose and turned to fully face him. "I know what you are trying to do."</p><p>He seemed to hesitate but then he became even more insistent.</p><p>"Saving you is what I'm trying to do," he told her.</p><p>"Save me?" Dany scoffed in disbelief. "Of what?"</p><p>Daario advanced towards her and Dany was about to back away until she remembered that behind her was only a steep slope.</p><p>"From him. From them. From all that you are not. The longer you are here, the more they will take from you."</p><p>"What are they supposedly taking from me?"</p><p>"It is not obvious?" He gave a bitter laugh and looked to the side. "Your strength. Your power. All that you are. The real Daenerys Targaryen would never have stayed behind another person, much less a man," as he said it he emphasized each word with a wave of his hand. "The real Daenerys imposes and commands."</p><p><em>In that you are not wrong</em>, she thought. She would give him that.</p><p>"Don't you miss it? Everything you had before? Everything this love took from you? This man who doesn't deserve you despises you and makes you feel like you're not a part of them." He licked his lips and moved even closer, but Daenerys stayed still, undaunted. "Dany. That's what he calls you. But to me you're Daenerys. A whole in itself. Not a part of everything you are. Can't you see it?"</p><p>Dany raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"Jon is the man I love. The father of my children."</p><p>The remainder of it obviously annoyed him but he did not relent. </p><p>"He is your misfortune, Daenerys. The reason for all your suffering."</p><p>She held his gaze for a moment longer before laughing and looking away.</p><p>"Even if," she started to say, "Even if for a moment your words make sense, you can't erase what's already been done. My feelings for him and the family we've created."</p><p>Daario took a long breath. Her words only made him stubborn.</p><p>"Here you are in danger. You and your children."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"Discontent grows by the day. They are not the Dothraki who follow the force. They like their old ways. They want that back."</p><p>Did he know something that they didn't? In the past, Daario had been quick to notice the discontent that she overlooked.</p><p>"Please. See reason, my Queen. For you and for your children, I offer you this: come with me," his hand caught hers, that inertly allowed itself to be grasped, "Come with me. I will keep you safe."</p><p>Dany made no move to pull away from him, even though she wanted to do so. Her mind was spinning over his words of warning, a fear that she had made her own in the past few days.</p><p>Then behind them, the presence of something else made itself known. A low growl that reminded her of Drogon, but less strident and closer.</p><p>Ghost and his pack emerged from the forest, in attacking position and with fangs out.</p><p>"If I were you, Daario," Daenerys said, pulling her hand away, "I'd think better of it before leaving the safety of the Wolves Den again. The name is not just a name, it is a warning."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Jorian!"</p><p>It all happened so quickly. Jon had his back on the children —he had briefly turned around to pick up some armament from the ground— when he was taken aback by the havoc that had wreaked behind him; Jorian and another boy were on the ground struggling and kicking each other.</p><p>Jon strode forward to separate his son from the other boy, taller and older. </p><p>"Stop both of you!" he shouted.</p><p>His son had been especially foolhardy that day. Yet Jon hadn't expected he would cross the line from reckless to aggressive. He lifted Jorian and took him to a safe distance to watch him, first making sure he wasn't hurt. A bruise tainted his cheek but was otherwise he was healthy. That wasn't what upset Jon but the sharp, angled object in his son's hand.</p><p>"Where'd you get that?" Jon demanded to know in a commanding tone.</p><p>Jorian, who was beginning to clear himself from the aggressive haze, startled at the tone his father used to address him.</p><p>"It's mine, Papa..." he barely whispered. Unusual for him, struck with sudden regret, his chest rose and fell as his eyes returned to the clear color of the dark gray sky. "I—I..."</p><p>"Not, it's not!" </p><p>Jon removed the object from his son's hand and turned to see if the other boy had been hurt by it. But it hadn't been more than an attempt. </p><p>Filled with fury and helplessness, Jon glared back at Jorian, who was staring at him with wide eyes between shock and fear.</p><p>"You don't get to carry a knife, ever. Do you hear me?"</p><p><em>Until I say so</em>, Jon intended to say but words carried on before he could properly measure them just as it happened when he tried to clear things with his mother that morning. His astonishment had been so great at the moment that he had not to do it correctly and on the face of his little son Jon could see that he was repressing the full unleashing of his anger.</p><p><em>Just as his mother</em>. </p><p>Jorian shoved his father and ran away –away from the training fields and away from him. </p><p>"Jorian!" Jon started trotting behind him just before being stopped by Tormund's hand on his chest.</p><p>"Crow!" Tormund berated him, "Calm down. Let him be."</p><p>He frowned as he watched Jorian.</p><p>"He's not himself. Where...where could he get this?" He turned to Tormund, stunned.</p><p>"Perhaps some other child. Our bloody children carry several of them," Tormund replicated. </p><p>Jon still couldn't believe it. Never has Jorian's disobedience been so blatant.</p><p>"He was looking at me..." he swallowed hard, "full of hate."</p><p>Was it their arguments at home? Did his son see him as an enemy now? That had been his fear since Daenerys had contradicted him. </p><p>"And what? Munda was even younger the first time she attempted to stick a knife in me," Tormund shrugged it off.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He entered their room with the intention of talking to Dany about what had happened with Jorian. He found her sitting on the edge of the bed, reading her writings.</p><p>She looked up at his presence made known and sighed before refocusing on them.</p><p>"I wrote this when Missella first stood," she said, watching them wistfully. "We were in the meadow, me plowing the ground while they were lying on a blanket not far from me. I turned around and there she was, standing. Looking at me with those eyes that are the same as mine. Jorian also looked at her captivated."</p><p>Once again her heart clenched in his chest at the reminder of not having been there to be a part of it. The time that he had believed her dead.</p><p>"I wish I had been there," he lamented without thinking twice about the implications of that. <em>I wish I hadn't killed you</em>.</p><p>That didn't seem to matter to Dany though, at least not seemingly.</p><p>"We're even," Dany said, closing the box with her parchment. "I wasn't there when Dalya took her first steps," she expressed in a low, sorrowful voice.</p><p>Jon closed the door behind them.</p><p>"Jorian came back with a bruise," she pointed out.</p><p>"Aye," he admitted. "He got into a fight with another boy during training." Jon ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes and sighing. "And he had a knife with him—,"</p><p>Daenerys got up.</p><p>"What? Jorian or the other child?"</p><p>"Jorian."</p><p>A pause.</p><p>"Did you give him a knife?" she blurted out.</p><p>"No!" Jon flatly denied. Whatever he was going to say after died out in his mind as he realized how quickly she accused him. "Did you think I was going to do that when we agreed on deciding when it was time, together?"</p><p>"Who gave him the knife?" she evaded.</p><p>"I do not know!" He lifted his arms. "I do not know."</p><p>Silence and heavy breathing. The look on her face was somewhere between confusion and the desire to say something that she would probably regret later.</p><p>She finally closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and cradled her face in her hands in a gesture of self-assurance. When she wanted to avoid continuing an argument, she did that.</p><p>Jon took a few steps forward.</p><p>"Dany..."</p><p>That wouldn't do. Daenerys whipped her face toward him and spoke with sharp words, "If any harm befalls our children, it won't take any poison in my brain to turn this place to ashes."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Crow," Dalra greeted with her back turned, noticing his presence without even turning around as she shot arrows at her target. </p><p>Jon didn't know if this was a good idea but he needed to ask her about Missella.</p><p>"I have to ask you something. About Missella."</p><p>Dalra turned around. Confused. </p><p>Then Jon began to tell her about the problems they had been dealing with in those days regarding their daughter.</p><p>"The dragon queen doesn't like me," Dalra said with an arched eyebrow. "I'm not trying to make your daughter like spending time here."</p><p>"Daenerys doesn't know you," he argued. Jon did not deny it because he did not know how well she and Dany knew each other. "I'm not blaming you for it. But if there's a reason for her to choose to be here over there, I'd like to know. Something that she might've told you while we were gone."</p><p>Dalra sighed and leaned on her bow as she spoke.</p><p>"Tell me something, Crow. When have you shared more than a few words to express your displeasure? The same happens to your daughter. She does not speak. She has not come here to be with me. She has come here to express her anger."</p><p>"Anger?"</p><p>"Yes, anger. Anger because her Mama and Papa just left one day."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Rare were those moments where he sought for himself a time alone.</p><p>Jon found himself with the only company of an open tome. Ameron, the Black Prince. It was almost absurd the way the old book could get him this engaged. He could hear Tyrion's words ringing: a mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone. Indeed, it was his cunning mind that led the dwarf to where he was, knowing perfectly what to say and when to say it.</p><p>As he tried to get the words and the sentence in his head, the light coming from the lamp grew dim. His eyes stung with exhaustion and he realized that he hadn't gotten very far without Daenerys' help.</p><p>He quietly walked to their room. There was silence in the cabin which meant that the children were asleep. So he found them, Missella by herself in her own bed, and Dalya and Jorian snuggled with Dany in theirs. It hadn't taken long for their young daughter to get used to her mother's presence. It brought some relief to his heart at the same time this grew heavier with concern for Missella's aloofness in opposition to Jorian's attachment. Jon could only hope time would help them all heal.</p><p>Dany, who was only snoozing, opened her eyes when she heard his steps. Even after all this time, he kept finding himself held in thrall at the sight of her.</p><p>"I need your help," he whispered. </p><p>She moved out of bed, careful not to wake the children, and followed him.</p><p>"With this paragraph," he pointed to the page in the book he was having trouble with.</p><p>Dany grabbed the book, which was too heavy for her, and slumped on the furs, placing the tome on her lap. She started reading, "<em>The scramble for pride amidst was found to great avail to the invader. Behold it, the enemy's pride is the gist of the matter—</em>,"</p><p>"You are not talking with me, why?" Jon interrupted her.</p><p>Dany stifled and blinked silently as she stared at him in surprise.</p><p>"He's doing it. Daario is doing something. I can sense it."</p><p>"We cannot do anything until Lyrissos—,"</p><p>"I know <em>that</em>," Jon acknowledged. He paused trying not to bother her. "But <em>you</em> were talking with him."</p><p>Daenerys shot him a warning look. "Were you keeping an eye on me?"</p><p>"I always have eyes on you."     </p><p>She scoffed. </p><p>"Well, what a shame I don't have that skill. It'd be useful when I was gone and Dalra was here with our children and with you alone."</p><p>With this last statement, Dany closed the book and got up. Jon stopped her by the arm.</p><p>"What are you implying?"</p><p>Dany released from his grip.</p><p>"What are you <em>implying</em>?"</p><p>He stood up, looking at her from above. They fell into a pregnant silence for a moment in which Dany challenged him again with a burning stare.</p><p>Jon caved in then, snagging her neck to push her into him and meet in a kiss. She stiffened but offered no resistance. </p><p>They ended up on the floor, she sprawled beneath him as she tugged at his hair, untying it as she plunged her hands into it.</p><p>It heated up so quickly that he could smell her arousal while he rubbed his crotch against her. She clung to him and started grinding her hips against his to reciprocate his movements. At once, she was gasping and panting in search of release. </p><p>It was easy to forget for a moment they were at the skin-carpeted floor of their cabin, sleeping children in the next room, until a shrill voice broke in, "Don't hurt her!"</p><p>They both startled and shifted upwards. Jon turned around quickly to hide his state from his son's view. </p><p>He awaited for Jorian's attack on his back but guessed Dany stopped him before he could land his small hands on him. </p><p>"He wasn't hurting me," he heard his wife explain. "Calm down, little dragon. Papa wasn't hurting me."</p><p>"He was making you cry!" Jorian protested.</p><p>"I was...He was..." Dany spluttered, "We were playing."</p><p>Jon closed his eyes regretfully and started thinking about things that certainly would cold him up. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Where did you get that idea your father could hurt me from?" Dany asked Jorian as she was tucking him back in bed, Jon listening behind the wooden wall. "Sometimes we argue, yes. Sometimes we raise our voices when we shouldn't. Yes. But that would never mean that he could hurt me. Or you, or your sisters."</p><p>Jon swallowed the guilt.</p><p>"Papa loves us all too much," Dany whispered.</p><p>A long silence before hearing his son's response, "I don't like that he looks at you like that."</p><p>"Looks at me how?" Dany asked him.</p><p>"As if he is mad all the time," Jorian answered her.</p><p>There was a pause from Dany, followed by a long sigh.</p><p>"With you?"</p><p>"He scolds me and doesn't want me to be here with you!"</p><p>His wife giggled softly.</p><p>"That is not reason enough to believe that your Papa would harm us. <em>Never</em>. And if someone has told you otherwise, then you have to tell me who it was so that I can talk to that person and I can never lie to you again.</p><p>His jaw clenched and he waited for the name. Jon knew that the odds were on a single person perpetrating all this chaos.</p><p>Instead, he heard his son pleading, "I don't want you to leave again."</p><p>Jon sighed.   </p><p>"We won't," Daenerys promised him.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>After eavesdropping on Jorian and Dany's conversation, Jon moved to the bench outside their cabin to look at the night sky. Ghost quietly spread out some steps away from him, gnawing on a bone. The northern lights ignited above him like explosions of wildfire. </p><p>A movement made him glance sideways and find Dany standing in the doorframe. He had believed she'd returned to sleep and didn't feel to do the same himself yet.</p><p>For a few moments, they stood still, staring at each other with blank faces.</p><p>"He fell asleep in his bed," she said.</p><p>"That's good," he replied with a half-smile that didn't meet his eyes. </p><p>He turned his eyes to the luminous sky as he folded his arms under the heavy dark cloak of the Night's Watch. He felt so numb compared to just moments before when he was ready to take Longclaw and cut off Daario's head. Jorian's sorrowful little voice had reminded her how minimal his anger was compared to the vulnerability of his children. He somehow he had started to forget about that and he didn't know how to find his way back.</p><p>"Jon..." Daenerys called his name softly.</p><p>He looked at her again. Tears welled up in her eyes. </p><p>"I am afraid," she admitted with a wobbling voice. </p><p>Jon exhaled as he felt a twisting apprehension in his stomach. Daenerys closed the door behind her and walked down the steps until she was in front of him. He noted that she was not wearing her own coat and that her gown was too thin to warm her. Suddenly, protectiveness washed over him and he felt the need to bring her against him and wrap her under his cloak, sitting her on his lap so he could rub her arms and her back while she hid her face in the crook of his neck. </p><p>"I'm sorry," her voice came out stifled. </p><p>He wanted to tell her the same. That he regretted their quarrel. However, he first wanted to apologize for Jorian.</p><p>"I shouldn't have yelled at him," Jon said, "I will never yell at him again. I promise."</p><p>She pulled away and cradled his face, slender fingers rubbing his beard as her amethyst eyes stared at him. </p><p>"We both have been doing things we shouldn't," she said.</p><p>Shivers ran down her whole body and he could feel her getting even more cold. Jon stood up and carried her inside, a soft whine of a forgotten Ghost reminding them that they were not completely alone. </p><p>Once in their home, he unfastened his cloak and wrapped her in it before taking her again in his arm to carry her to their bed, where he carefully placed her. Jon helped his wife to get undressed, at not moment feeling this could be a peaceful way to end the day instead of this turmoil.</p><p>When they were done, he stayed at the edge of the bed with his back turned on her and his hands clasped in front of him.</p><p>"Jorian is afraid of me. Missella is angry at both of us."</p><p>"She doesn't love me," Dany said.</p><p>He turned around.</p><p>"She does love you. You are her mother."</p><p>"I am her mother who left them. I did the only thing I shouldn't suppose to do."</p><p>"Then we are both doing something wrong."</p><p>She didn't contradict him. At last, something both agreed on. </p><p>The bed shifted under the weight of her  movements and she was soon behind him, his hand crawling up his back to bury in his hair as her chin rested on his right shoulder.</p><p>"Daario told me that we are not safe."</p><p>His face whipped up to her.</p><p>"And did you believe him?"</p><p>She licked her lips.</p><p>"I would more of a fool if I were directly hostile. His affection for me has turned into an obsession, and I have learned that obsessions sooner or later turn into weaknesses."</p><p>"What does that mean?" he asked instead. </p><p>Her eyes didn't meet him. The hand in his hair began to give little tugs. </p><p>"Daario has to believe."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jon was caught in a wandering thought when he heard the groans behind him turning to agonizing wails. A boy of no more than ten and eight was engaged in combat with a soldier of the Second Sons. His face was dripping blood while the mercenary barely had a scratch all over his body.</p><p>"Okay, that's enough," he halted the showdown.</p><p>It was brutal. And although there were exclamations and excitement from both sides all around, you could see the fear in the brutalized boy.</p><p>"No one will put a halt to it when he is in battle," Daario snorted.</p><p>Since they had welcomed the Second Sons into the training fields, Naharis had not wasted a moment to boast of the superiority formation of his men. Jon didn't deny that. The sellswords fought for gold, the Free Folk for survival. </p><p>"But he's not in battle," Jon replied. "Your soldiers would do well to remember that," he warned.</p><p>He turned around as the field was filled with whistles and protests.</p><p>"I think everyone here wants to see a good fight from time to time, don't we?" Daario asked everyone gathered. The people in the mostly agreed, but Jon was unmoved. "In Meereen, we had pits of fights. Men, women, and even children would go out to the arena to prove their worth. I came out of there myself. The rich lords and merchants did not like to bet on a scrawny kid so I became a favorite of the bookmakers by disenchantment. This place lacks a bit of entertainment. What does King Snow think?"</p><p>Jon did not listen to the mocking tone of his question.</p><p>"The fighting pits that Daenerys fervently opposed?" he returned.</p><p>"The fighting pits that helped stabilize her rule."</p><p>Daenerys never put it like that. Rather, even that concession failed to dissuade the Sons of the Harpy. The permitted savagery was the masters' excuse to camouflage their slaves as champions who entered the arena as free men.</p><p>"The fighting pits have a champion and a corpse. It's not the kind of entertainment we want in Wolves Den."</p><p>Daario crossed his hands and raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"Who says that?"</p><p>Jon looked around and met the stoic and expectant gazes of his people.</p><p>"I say so," he replied. "We are not at war. If we fight each other from within we'll be vulnerable from without."</p><p>Daario waited a moment and finally laughed.</p><p>"What good is a soldier who cannot in simple combat?" He turned and began to shout generally: "Let us each one assert our worth as a warrior."</p><p>Men and women, not all but most of them, intoned their approval with raised fists in the air and war cries.</p><p>Jon glanced at Tormund, whose stern eyes told him this was getting out of hand.</p><p>Jon remembered Dany's words last night and they took on new meaning.</p><p><em>Daario has to believe</em>.</p><p>Seeing him there trapped in his own belief, gave a new meaning to it all. The man was blinded by his own sense of victory. Maybe it was the fact that his men were superior in training than the Free Folk and if they wanted they could take Wolves Den and even Hardhome. It would be a tough fight but training was always a factor to consider.</p><p>Yet they were here. In the true north. This was not the ground of his preference and any attempt to transgress could result in utter loss.</p><p>So what was Daario Naharis playing?</p><p>"What if instead of freedom, gold, or your worth as a soldier, you better not prove the worth of your words?" Jon challenged him, with a renewed understanding of things. Daario turned around abruptly. "Fight with me. One fight, final. If you win, then it will have been true that your training in the fighting pits has been a resounding success. If I win, we will know that it is all a sham for the strongest to win, regardless of the value of anything."</p><p>"It would be betting against me, I've never been the strongest," Naharis said as he walked forward. "And it's not a sham. Men live and die to prove their worth."</p><p>Jon looked at him carefully.</p><p>"I can assure you that nothing is more meaningless than death."</p><p>Daario glared at him. Something told Jon that he was thinking not in the point he tried to make but about what had left him at that state.</p><p><em>Dany</em>.</p><p>"Very well," Daario agreed. "We'll fight."</p><p> </p><p><strong>Jarl</strong> <strong>(VI)</strong><br/>
 </p><p>Snow crunched under his feet as he trudged the way home. The path should be cleared, he took note of, but Jarl hasn't been there in weeks, and Val isn't one to bother. She actually enjoyed jumping across the snow mounds. When his wife and the girl are not at home he would take a shovel and clear the path, he decided. That it wouldn't be that day because they were both there.</p><p>He stood watching them from afar. Val haunched down showing her what looked like a wooden doll. He narrowed his eyes and noticed that it was a knife. Of course, Val was teaching her to wield one. With every move she got right, the two of them giggled and Val pulled her close to put a kiss on her forehead.</p><p>Jarl clenched his hand into a fist and stepped back just in time when the girl looked up at him and squinted at him with those strange eyes of her. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He found Daenerys in the same place he had found her the first time he approached her. Back then, Jarl had not had noble intentions towards her and now he was not decided whether he wanted to harm her or not. Actually, he didn't want to. But he had to decide if it was them or himself.</p><p>Jarl entered the long hall where she was busy with her weaving loom.</p><p>"You look angry," he said, watching her deliberate movements.</p><p>She turned around suddenly. Her eyes studied him suspiciously.</p><p>"Where were you?" She asked him. Val told me you just disappear."</p><p>"I've gone to see our people on the other side of the Wall. I've seen the Ironborn raiding a town," he told her.</p><p>He saw her close her eyes and sigh regretfully.</p><p>"Please, don't tell me. I know it must be something terrible."</p><p>"You are still a sensitive girl, eh?" he mocked her. </p><p>"I'm not the man that ran away because of a child," she returned.</p><p>Jarl stood still.</p><p>"That is not my child," he said harshly. </p><p>"It's Val's child. And Val's your wife."</p><p>He didn't respond to that. Daenerys looked at him with such seriousness that there was no room for opposition.</p><p>"Many times over I've asked myself if she really loves me, the way I love her," he confessed to her. Perhaps because until now Jarl kept wondering why and how she had forgiven Jon Snow's treason.</p><p>"What makes you question that?"</p><p>She moved to the table and followed her.</p><p>"Did you know that she stole me? I didn't even see her coming. But she did. She stole me and I've belonged to her since then," he wistfully recalled. "Is that what happened to you?"</p><p>Her brow furrowed. "I don't understand."</p><p>"With Jon. We both know what he did to you. And yet here you are." He watched her contemplatively. "Is your love for him more important than your pride?"</p><p>She took a deep breath with both hands on her lap and a solemn look.</p><p>"It is," she replied.</p><p>Jarl nodded then. </p><p>"Then you do understand," he said, "No matter what she does to enrage me, I love her more every time. But she doesn't see it. She's always searching for a missing piece. She sees us incomplete."</p><p>Daenerys shook her head.</p><p>"I know she lost a child by the dead. I'm so sorry. I lost a child from my first husband as well."</p><p>He frowned. </p><p>"I begged her to run. To leave me behind and save herself and our child, but she stayed and the wight died but she...she was bleeding." His voice quivered. He looked at her conveying feelings of helplessness. "After that, she started to think us broke. We are happy for a time and then, we are not."</p><p>The dragon queen's expression was one of compassion and sympathy.</p><p>"Is it the perspective of loving this child so impossible for you?" she asked him.</p><p>"She's not my blood."</p><p>"But you can make her yours anyhow." </p><p>Jarl felt the opposition build.</p><p>"Val loves you," she continued to say, "That much I can tell."</p><p>He was silent, thoughtful. He could tell her right now about Naharis and his ill intentions. Negotiate the information to get what he wanted. Yet something inexplicable within him stopped him. Something that only Jarl could figure out with himself. </p><p>"Jarl. What are you doing here?" She questioned him finally when she started seeing his visit came no without ulterior motive. </p><p>The sound of clashing steel and voices from a frenzied crowd interrupted them.</p><p>"What is that?" Daenerys asked, standing up and walking outside. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (XI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The stiletto was about to dig into his neck. Daario's arm remained held in midair by Snow's left hand, the thin sword dangling over the side of his neck. The bastard pointed his own dagger at his throat, stilled only by the voice of his wife halting him, time in which Daario brought his own left hand towards Snow's wrist.</p><p>It had been an even fight. Daario never underestimated the capabilities of the man. And as a bloodthirsty crowd gathered around them, Daario knew that this fight would not have the gratifying resolution he expected.</p><p>However, this was better.</p><p>Much better.</p><p>Snow's blazing gaze did not quell because Daenerys had appeared, it burned more, pushing him to the ground. Daario just stood up, licking the blood from his split lip.</p><p>Snow hobbled down to take the sword from him, not the bastard sword he always carried with him but a training sword. Daario had parried his attack with a quick move to the side while simultaneously grasping his wrist from below with his left hand. He pressed with his own sword against the back of his', and it's been impossible for him to hold on to it. </p><p>It was a false move.</p><p>Snow snaked that hand in a light, precise motion and took the stiletto from him, slowing Daario's blow with his left hand while encircling his wrist from below and bringing the stiletto to the side of his neck.</p><p><em>Swiftness</em>.</p><p>It was as if he was fighting to survive.</p><p>"Jon, stop!"</p><p>The words kept echoing in his head. Daario wouldn't even have minded dying if that was the last thing he heard.</p><p>Daario nodded and raised his arms in the air, celebrating, "Who's next?"</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"No one has ever beaten Snow in combat. Never."</p><p>"There is always a first time for everything," Daario replied. In front of him Jarl. </p><p>"Daenerys stopped him."</p><p>"Daenerys saved your neck."</p><p>Daario smirked.</p><p>"I don't understand what you think happened out there? A man shorter than you nearly crossed your neck with that," he looked disdainfully at the stiletto in the middle of the table, "That hideous crap," he pointed out.</p><p>Daario glanced at the stiletto and continued sipping his ale. Disgusting excuse to deceive the senses.</p><p>"I've waited long enough," Daario was blunt. "Where are your people?"</p><p>"It's not time yet," Jarl excused himself.</p><p>"Yes, it's more than time. I've had enough of waiting." He pulled his face close to his and spoke in a low, raspy voice, determined to make it clear: "What happened today is that Daenerys doesn't want to see me dead." He shook his head and his eyes were wide open. "She is confused. I can see Snow's dark aura underneath all that image of nobility and honor. He is suffocating her so he can feed off her strength. Just as he does with your people." Daario reached back and crossed his arms behind him, clasping his hands behind his neck. "The sooner we are done with Snow, the sooner your people will truly be free. And Daenerys will return to be free. The free woman she was with me."</p><p>The wildling man looked at him skeptically.</p><p>No. Daario wasn't going to allow him to back down now.</p><p>"It's your turn," Daario blurted out.</p><p>"My turn for what?"</p><p>"Your turn to prove your worth," he explained, leaning closer again and resting his elbows and arms on the table. "The time has come to start acting. And you have to start by cutting the finest threads."</p><p>Jarl looked at him dumbfounded.</p><p>"Not the children. Leave that to me and my men," Daario clarified, laughing as he remembered Daenerys' child, <em>Jorian</em>, and his naive enthusiasm when he handed him the knife and his fragile mind confused when he told her that Papa put a knife to Mama's heart once. "I'm talking about the red witch."</p><p>Jarl's nose wrinkled. "Fuck off."</p><p>Daario guffawed. </p><p>"Volantis and the rest of the Known World is full of these religious zealots. They are made of flesh and blood like us. It takes only a good sharp knife and a man bold enough to wield it." He took the stiletto and handed it to him.</p><p>And of course, he could still say no. In which case Daario would resort to the only plan he had in case he was left with no plan. </p><p>Daenerys would be his. Even if Daario had to take her with him to a far corner of the world and throw themselves off a cliff, she would be his.</p><p>Fortunately, after a long moment of hesitation, Jarl took the stiletto.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Kinvara (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His shadow is inside long before him.</p><p>Kinvara has left the black candles where they belonged while the white ones have been lit in the correct places. The hour had come.</p><p>"Jarl, son of Karl," Kinvara called after him. </p><p>She turned around and found the dark-haired man standing in the doorframe –a door she had left open to listen to the whistle of the wind.</p><p>"Don't be afraid to walk forward, Jarl," she invited him softly.</p><p>Kinvara continued to distract herself by moving objects that were resting on the table in front of her bed. The space there was small, enough for him to enter and the large form of him to occupy most of the place.</p><p>She smiled at him, content. Yet he, still consumed with doubts, seemed to be unable to do anything but watch her.</p><p>Kinvara's eyes dropped to the pointed object in his hand. The end of the knife was a woman, a very-surrendered woman.</p><p>A sound escaped his closed lips.</p><p>Kinvara silenced him by putting two fingers to her lips. She moved her hand to stroke the stubble on her face and tuck her loose hair behind her ear. He frowned in surprise.</p><p>"We all have a purpose in the lord's plans. Even traitors." Kinvara wrapped her other hand around the one of his that was holding the dagger. "Even the most loyal."</p><p>It was easy. One smooth slip and her throat was slit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It's not the last we'll see of Kinvara.</p><p>Don't be hard on Jarl. Judas was also part of the divine plan in that other story.</p><p>Thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. I wasn't letting up until the day he died</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>26.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>I wasn't letting up until the day he died.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Wolves Den.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His eyes widen as blood spilled down her uncovered chest, staining her dress a darker shade of the same color. She staggered and her knees gave out under her weight.</p><p>Instinctively, Jarl held her when she fell. Futile effort. </p><p>The knife was still in his hand. The <em>bloody</em> blade.</p><p>The dark orbits in the center of her green eyes widened and her gaze froze at the night sky. Only then did Jarl notice the glow on her necklace that flashed a few times before fading completely. And then the weight of her body was nothing more than ashes and the garments that were left.</p><p>Jarl stood up with shaking hands, looking around him not knowing what to do. Did she know what would happen? What did it matter? It was in his hand that rested the knife. The witch's hand had been so gentle in her grip that Jarl didn't even notice when she raised the knife to cut her own throat.</p><p>Shaken and astonished, he stumbled until he collided with a heavy object. The candles on top fell and began to burn the fabrics that decorated the walls of the hovel. </p><p>Jarl fled.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>His dreams were full of memories of the night before; of the irresistible force that had dragged him there and the haunted smile of the witch.</p><p>She was dark, not red. Around her was darkness and the only light Jarl saw was not from the Lord she chanted about but from Val. Only in the sight of her small frame, he found peace.</p><p>"Jarl," she called him over and over. "Jarl, let's go home."</p><p>There was nothing else he wanted more than that.</p><p>Somehow, he made it. He staggered his way up to his home, frantically slamming his fist on the door. On the other side he heard voices and movement, surely the search for an ax or a knife.</p><p>"Val," Jarl yelled. "Val!"</p><p>She must have recognized his voice because immediately the door opened those blue eyes of her greeted him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (VI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Val continued to wipe the lukewarm water on her husband's forehead as she indicated to Kalea to carefully mix the contents of the brass pot and tell Val when it was of a dark red color. She had taken even amounts of radish, bishopwort, garlic, wormwood, helenium, cropleek, and hollowleek to pound up and boil in butter with celandine and red nettle. When it was all cooked, she strained it through a cloth and smeared it on Jarl's forehead and aching joints.</p><p>She had no idea what was happening, but he seemed to have been taken by overexertion. Blood, soot, and smoke covered his clothes, which she trashed away before wrapping him under the furs on their bed.</p><p>Kalea shook Val's shoulder lightly to get her attention. When Val turned around, the girl extended a knife to her mother. One with the golden figure of a woman exposed as a handle.</p><p>"Where did you get that?" she asked her even though Val knew it couldn't come from anywhere else.</p><p>Kalea aimed at Jarl's slumbering form.</p><p>Val turned to look at him with confused eyes. Where had he been? And what had he done? If he had killed someone...Val didn't want to think about that. Jon was already targeting them for the incident with the foreign soldier. And her husband wasn't one fond of Jon Snow either. </p><p>She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It wasn't until hours later that Jarl woke up, his chest rising and falling with the force of his cough. He seemed awakened from a nightmare.</p><p>"Hey," Val came over with a cup of water and helped him sit up and drink it. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked when his cough has been appeased. "Where were you Jarl?"</p><p>Her husband's eyes darkened with the knowledge of something he didn't want to share and his expression turned desperate.</p><p>Val grew disquiet.</p><p>"Jarl, what have you done?" she asked with barely a voice. She had never seen him affected by a death. It couldn't be that. </p><p>Jarl pulled her closer and cupped her face.</p><p>"Forgive me," he whispered.</p><p>"Forgive you? For what? For...her?" Val looked over to where Kalea was sleeping.</p><p>This time when Jarl gazed at her, he had no misgivings or rancor, just melancholy.</p><p>He nodded but that wasn't all, Val knew.</p><p>"So what is it?" Val insisted again.</p><p>"You're going to have to trust me," Jarl said. "Are you going to trust me?"</p><p>Val frowned. "If you don't tell me—,"</p><p>"Val," he cut her off. "Answer me that. Will you trust me? We are a family, yes? You and me. <em>And the girl</em>. But I have to know that you are going to trust me."</p><p>Her heart clenched in her chest. <em>The girl</em>. He wasn't even calling her by her name yet something had changed in him and for the first time, Val allowed herself to feel hopeful.</p><p>"Yes," she said. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruins were still smoking in the early morning. A great black and ash-filled circle rested where was the red witch's house. The cold did nothing to lessen the heat arising from it and Daario thanked it for a moment as he squatted down to rummage through the remains and find a dark, glassy object he paid little attention to.</p><p>When Daario looked up, he met Daenerys' sharp stare.</p><p><em>I told you it would happen</em>, Daario he wanted to tell her but refrained from doing so. He didn't want to make it worse for her.</p><p>"They seem to be unhappy," he merely pointed out.</p><p>"Our people would never do this," intervened the gruff voice of Jon Snow. He stood outside the circle with a strained face of obviously contained anger. Daenerys was, on the contrary, undaunted.</p><p>"Have you not considered, Snow, the possibility that not all of them consider themselves <em>your</em> people?"</p><p>He moved forward and stepped into the circle. "The only strangers here are you and your people. We never had any incidents until you arrived."</p><p>Daario snorted.</p><p>"My men peacefully lived with the red witch long before Daenerys had known her. Why were they going to attack her? For what purpose? We all serve the same Queen," he said, showing himself calm.</p><p>"I'll give you one last chance, leave or stay to die."</p><p>Daario's gaze grew harder, glancing at Daenerys to check in her expression for what her wish was. But she remained silent.</p><p>"If I leave, I'll leave my Queen unprotected. And I am ready to die for my Queen," he answered. </p><p>Daenerys did nothing but look absently at the ground. It reminded him of the old days when, quietly and in her solitude, his Queen would lose herself in dark and desperate thoughts. It is where Daario needed her, where Daario would find her.</p><p>"I'm going to gather everyone in the Great Hall—," Jon started to say.</p><p>"No," Daenerys cut him off. "That is only going to enrage them."</p><p>"Of course it will," Jon agreed, "We have a foreign army and our first position is to suspect on our own people!"</p><p>Daenerys's face whipped up at him. "Kinvara is dead, Jon. <em>Dead</em>."</p><p>Daario watched the exchange with silent interest.</p><p>"I told you they weren't happy; I told you this would happen—,"</p><p>"Stop!" he yelled at her. "Just stop." Jon glared at Daario and then again looked at his wife. "We will continue this in our home."</p><p>He turned and walked away.</p><p>Daario was doing his best to contain his anger at the man for his mistreatment toward the woman he claimed to love, even though he enjoyed seeing the fruits of his effort. </p><p>He felt the overwhelming need to hug her and hold her, to tell her that he was there for her to lie down and break on his shoulder. But giving in to that was not understanding the real Daenerys. The woman who underneath the seemly calmness, hid a dragon.</p><p>A dragon that was very close to awakening.</p><p>"Tell me something, Daario," her stiff voice addressed him, her back still turned. "How could you receive a woman whose heart will always belong to another man?" She turned around and he saw her face soaked in tears but still cold and expressionless. "Would your love for me go so far?"</p><p>He took a step forward, ignoring her taking a step back.</p><p>Seriously and firmly, he told her: "I am going to make your heart heal."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Daario was in a good mood cracking up at some joke one of his men told about a Meereenese merchant when Jarl got to where he was. </p><p>A shadow crossed the man's face.</p><p>"You will follow my lead," he pointed, flinging his stiletto onto the table. </p><p>Daario cocked his head.</p><p>"I never follow the lead. I am the lead," he asserted. </p><p>"My people will arrive," Jarl ignored him. "Tomorrow."</p><p>"Why tomorrow?"</p><p>Jarl snorted and looked away.</p><p>"We need a reason for everyone to be in the same place, right?"</p><p>Daario squinted at him but nodded. It was now or never. His heartbeat sped up at the thought of it.</p><p>"My men are going to secure the port," <em>the poor excuse for a port they had</em>, he said in his mind. "Nobody goes in or out."</p><p>"Your men in the port, mine in the rear. We'll encircle them."</p><p>It was a plan. </p><p>The other man looked around at his people. Even in the worst case, Daario thought, his men could take out any amount of them. The wildlings were not a challenge to the Second Sons.</p><p>"I make the right supposition in thinking you won't want the Dragon Queen to be there when your men turn their swords on her husband," he remarked with a raised eyebrow. </p><p>He thought about the conversation he had with Daenerys that morning. The pain on her face and the harsh words of Jon Snow. Not even then was Daario naive enough to think that she would leave him for him.</p><p>She needed...time. Time would heal her heart and make her see where she truly belongs. </p><p>And there were those damn children. Daario didn't want those children.</p><p>Where he would take Daenerys there was no place for the past. Only the future.</p><p>"I want her away from here," Daario ratified. Only by taking her away amid the chaos could she believe him when Daario tells her that he did what he could to save them.</p><p>"My men are going to take her to a place, then. When the time is right, you will go and find her."</p><p>"Where?"</p><p>"I'll tell you where when it's time—,"</p><p>Daario lost his composure. "Do not mess with me!"</p><p>If he was on edge, the other man proved himself even more disturbed.</p><p>As soon as Daario raised his voice to him, Jarl lifted him from the chair and flung him across the room. His men rose and drew their curved swords.</p><p>Jarl stared at him from his place.</p><p>"I don't care about you in the least, Naharis," he sternly remarked. His mouth twisted. "Not you or your sick intentions. Tomorrow you and all your people who came to invade our land are going to leave."</p><p>Daario rose and gestured for his men to lower their weapons. If he had the slightest chance, he would make Daenerys take all of her anger out on him.</p><p>Jarl turned to leave, being stopped by one last question Daario asked him.</p><p>"And your woman?"</p><p>His position stiffened.</p><p>"What about her?"</p><p>Jarl looked at him over his shoulder.</p><p>"She's aboard," he said.</p><p>"Well, don't worry then. I'll make sure that when my men go after the little bastards, they accidentally slide their swords on the girl's neck as well."</p><p>Jarl wrinkled his nose but said nothing, walking away. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon held her in his arms as she bent over with her head in his lap. The rest of her body on the bed. As soon as they had returned home, he had embraced her knowing perfectly well that she would break. And since then he hadn't let her go.</p><p>"She was there when no one else was," Dany said between sobs remembering when she woke up in that distant, dark, and cold place with no memory of what had happened except for the image of Jon and his knife in her heart.</p><p>He put a kiss on her temple again.</p><p>"And I will always honor her memory for that," he said, squeezing her closer to him.</p><p>Dany sat up. Her face puffy and covered in tears as her chest burn.</p><p>"I don't understand how she let it happen," she wondered. "She would never allow someone as nefarious and unworthy as Daario to harm her."</p><p>Dany had never worried about Kinvara. She had assumed that of all people, she would be the last person at risk.</p><p>"All I know, Dany, is that Kinvara always had her reasons." However, he took her face in his hands and spoke firmly to her, "Tell me to bring you his head right now, and I will."</p><p>But they couldn't. Not yet. Not at the risk that something could go wrong and their children's identities could be revealed. Then they would have to flee, live looking over their shoulders and escaping ruthless assassins and dark magic. Her very own life. The childhood she never had.</p><p>Dany closed her eyes and shook her head.</p><p>"We have to tell the children, Jon," she said.</p><p>"Dany..." he whispered. </p><p>The idea of hurting her children with this information broke her heart but since Kinvara had returned to their lives, she had become a familiar image to them as were Tormund, Munda, and even Val. There was no worse for a child than to lose that sense of familiarity. The same pain they had experienced when one day they stopped seeing their parents without knowing why.</p><p>"It's going to be worse if they find out for themselves," she insisted. </p><p>"Aye." Jon nodded. His hand found hers and wrapped it in his. "Let's do it together."</p><p>She looked at his face and raised her hand to stroke his bearded cheek. He seemed exhausted and that made her feel uneasy, thinking about how much this affected him and how much more they had to endure to finally have some peace.</p><p>"When you said those words in front of him. He believed it."</p><p>She meant to the quarrel they had in front of Daario. Dany hadn't known Jon was pretending until she got home, and he hugged her begging for forgiveness.</p><p>"I love you," she said to him, pouring out all the affection she felt for him in those words.</p><p>He kissed her gently.</p><p>"I know."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jon had wanted to sweeten the words using terms like <em>stars</em> and <em>rest</em> but they had ended up more confused, so Daenerys took over and went straightforwardly to it.</p><p>"Kinvara had an accident. She died."</p><p>The children fell silent and watched their parents with wide, bright eyes. </p><p>"Are..." Jorian was the first to speak, stuttering a question, "Aren't we going to see her again?"</p><p>Dany's heart sank in her chest. She licked her lips.</p><p>"No, sweetling," she said.</p><p>Jorian wrinkled his little nose and looked at the ground as his eyes turned watery. He walked slowly over to Dany and hugged her, hiding his crying face in her belly. Dany bent down to kiss his silver mane.</p><p>Dalya was sitting on the floor with Ghost behind her. She didn't seem to understand much of what was going on, although she was looking at her brother with a strange and almost empathetic look.</p><p>Missella was a grave. Her brow had furrowed and her breathing quickened but she remained speechless.</p><p>"Missella, love..." Jon spoke softly, approaching her. </p><p>Dany was startled and let out a little cry when Missella suddenly jumped up and pushed Jon away.</p><p>"Missella!" Jon called out to her but she was already running for the door. Her husband followed her while Dany watched everything still in shock. </p><p>Luckily, Jon was faster than the girl, stopping her flight with one hand on the door when she tried to open it.</p><p>Missella then tried to run in the other direction but Jon grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. "Missella! Collect yourself!" he urged her on but she shook her face as she wrinkled in pain.</p><p>For a moment Dany feared that he was hurting her with his hold but soon realized that it was a sad and mournful cry.</p><p>Ghost whined in the back. </p><p>With a Jorian still whimpering, Dany approached her daughter and tried to bring a hand to her face. Missella pushed her hand away harshly. </p><p>"I wish you had never come back!" she cried. </p><p>And even though the message was for both her parents, it was Dany whom she looked at when she threw those sharp words, cutting her mother's heart into pieces.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Although the blizzard had subsided and the sky had cleared, it was a cold, dark night. She and Jon had sat outside the cabin to silently ponder their situation. </p><p>"What are we going to do, Jon?" Dany had asked him. "Where are we going to be safe from all of our enemies?"</p><p>Neither Essos nor Westeros were completely safe. Dany hadn't enjoyed a moment of peace in its fullness and she knew that sooner or later she would no longer be able to guard their children by leaving them in ignorance.</p><p>Jon didn't answer but she heard him sigh regretfully. </p><p>Sounds of footsteps coming up the pathway startled them. They raised their eyes to see Val trudged through with her Kalea in tow.</p><p>When she arrived and stood in front of them, they saw that her expression was one of distress.</p><p>"We need to talk," she said in a grim voice.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jarl shuffled into the Great Hall. How many times had they already been in this same situation? </p><p>When Jon had just come to settle here with them, he hardly knew who the man was. He had seen him a couple of times, including when Ygritte first dragged him to Manse's camp, sitting next to an indifferent Val while watching him with a stern look on his face.</p><p>Thenceforth, it hadn't changed albeit the times of peace. </p><p>Jon this time remained calm, despite everything. He knew what would happen and he was ready for it. </p><p>"Shall we start?"</p><p>The raising voices in the hall died away.</p><p>"You stand accused of treason, conspiracy and murder. How do you respond to all these crimes?"</p><p>Jarl's lips twisted into a half smile.</p><p>"Not guilty," he replied.</p><p>Again the people around them yelled their agreement and their disagreement. The absence of the recurring presence of the Second Sons did not escape Jon's attention.</p><p>"There is someone who points you out as the only responsible for the death of the priestess Kinvara."</p><p>Jarl frowned.</p><p>"Let that person walk forward and say it to my face."</p><p>Jon nodded.</p><p>Val stepped out of the shadows behind them and stood in front of her husband.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Munda helped her tie the leather laces of her gown. Dany had rarely allowed herself to wear one of these here, accustomed to the freedom and warmth that woolen kirtle fabrics gave her. </p><p>"And this is the Bear Knight. Look, he has a bear on his armor. And he comes from the island of bears!" Jorian was enthusiastically telling Kalea about his wooden figures which his father had carved for him. </p><p>They were in the hall of the looms, waiting and taking care of the children. After coming with her husband's treason to confess, Val had asked for Kalea to be guarded too.</p><p>"Bear Island," Daenerys corrected him. </p><p>"And this is the Onion Knight. He is a smuggler!"</p><p>"Ser Davos," Daenerys interrupted again to add to the children's conversation. "His name was Ser Davos."</p><p>"Mama, <em>sh! </em>I am telling her!"</p><p>Daenerys shrugged as she shook her head, amused. </p><p>Munda tied a thin scabbard to one of the cords, and there she hide a knife.</p><p>"Do you know how to use one?" she asked, looking at her sharply.</p><p>Dany nodded as she swallowed hard.</p><p>"Ser?" Kalea asked, pointing at the figure Jorian had handled her. </p><p>"Yes, Ser," Dany nodded at the girl. "<em>Ser is a knight, and knights are strong and brave soldiers</em>," she told her in her native tongue because it made the girl feel at ease.</p><p>Kalea thought as she studied the figurine. </p><p>The doors slammed open and the children screamed.</p><p>Munda took her ax but Dany stopped her, urging her to move to protect the children instead.</p><p>A group of men came through the door, all of them wildlings. Not the Second Sons.</p><p>Not Daario.</p><p>Dany took a deep breath and lifted her chin.</p><p>"You are too small to be the woman we are looking for," one of those men said, fair hair spilling over his shoulders, he was of great stature. His face was long with a narrow nose. </p><p>"Perhaps you are looking for the wrong woman," Daenerys retorted.</p><p>"Mama!" Jorian yelled behind her to which Dany turned and ordered him to shut up. Not because he was doing something wrong but because she didn't want these people to get any close to them.</p><p>"And those must be the little wolves of the winter lands," the man said in a voice so hoarse that Dany thought it must hurt him to speak.</p><p>Her instinct drove her forward. She wanted these people away from her children.</p><p>"MAMA!"</p><p>Dany whirled around.</p><p>Missella ran over and grabbed her by her skirts, pushing her back and almost making her stumble.</p><p>While Munda held Dalya, her eldest child contained Jorian who was fighting to get out of his hold. Her other son was behind Missella, pushing her away from Dany.</p><p>"Mama, don't go. Don't go!" Missella was sobbing</p><p>"Easy, easy, I'm going to return. I'm not going to return, sweetling."</p><p>She kissed her furrowed brow and fought back the tears. She had to be strong for her children. This would be over soon.</p><p>Missella screamed desperately as Daenerys got up and walked to the door, letting herself be carried away by those men.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (VIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His wife's lips moved just a moment before they slammed behind it to force themselves into the Great Hall.</p><p>They all abruptly turned to look.</p><p>Half-Ear Ersland's tribe was known for the distinctive mutilations on the body of its people. Bloodthirsty people, it was known. It was not difficult to convince him into a good fight. </p><p>"Ersland," Jon acknowledged him. "Why is this sudden visit?"</p><p>The chieftain stepped forward and passed him, nodding at Jarl in recognition.</p><p>Jon's direwolf came out of the shadows with its fangs exposed in a warning. <em>Don't get any close</em>. </p><p>"The Crow and his wolf. The tales tell this is the Wolves Den and my eyes see now is not just a tale, right?" said Ersland. "We come to claim back our lands as the rightful owners of them!"</p><p>Ersland drove his spear into the wooden floor as around him his men raised their shields, spears, swords, and arrows.</p><p>Jarl glanced over his shoulder and saw that chaos had broken out outside as well.</p><p>"Jon Snow, you don't belong here. You are not a man of the Free Folk."</p><p>When Jarl turned, he didn't find Val in front of him.</p><p>She was gone.</p><p>"We are all free people while we can, Ersland. And Wolves Den is their place, not just mine." Jon spoke calmly, but beneath that calm demeanor, hid a dangerous man. An knowledge that reached each man and woman beyond the Wall. "Sit down and we will share a feast. I am sure we can come to an understanding that will better settle to satisfy your interests."</p><p>Ersland cracked up a high-pitched, almost maniacal laugh. Jarl wrinkled his nose.</p><p>"Look at the pretty little lord speaking in the fashion of his parents from the Kingdoms."</p><p>"Ersland, you and your people don't have to lose their lives today. Just leave," Tormund stepped forward.</p><p>"It's enough!" Jon stopped and forgot Ersland to address Jarl. "Is this what you want? Is this what you have chosen to be?"</p><p>He knew. Of course.</p><p>"It was you who brought in the foreign army," Jarl replied. </p><p>"You don't belong here. None of you."</p><p>Jon didn't answer that.</p><p>"Very well," he said, "Let's solve this without shedding the blood of innocents. Ersland, if you want to take my place in Wolves Den, you will have to claim it."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (VII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Get off my way!" Val yelled as she ran in the opposite direction the crowd was coming, futilely trying to reach the port. Her racing heart seemed cracking up its way out of her chest.</p><p>She stopped when she heard a woman screaming. A man of Ersland had a peasant girl under him.</p><p>Val took him from behind her and cut his throat without hesitation, helping the woman up and urging her to seek shelter rather than flee to the ships. She stole the dead man's sword and went on her way.</p><p>She reached the Hall but it was empty. She banged against the wall in frustration and continued trotting desperately in search of Munda and the children.</p><p>When she heard sounds of metal clashing and groans coming from the barn behind, she headed there.</p><p>Val froze as five men had a battered and bloody Munda on the ground.</p><p>She screamed and lunged toward them.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"You like what you see?" the man with the cut ear asked Daenerys when she stared at him, her attention on his mutilated member.</p><p>Daenerys responded by rolling her eyes and looking back at her. Dothraki, Wildlings, slavers, they were all the same man at the end of the day.</p><p>Her hands had been tied and she was being dragged up along the riverside. Its course went down and back to Wolves Den, but they were going up. </p><p>At times they would stop to speak in the old tongue, probably talking about the things they wanted to do to her body. The notion of it made her heart beat faster as her eyes searched around for some way out. Deep down, waiting for Jon.</p><p>Or Drogon.</p><p>She glanced at her wrist for the bracelet and almost let out a whimper.</p><p>It didn't take long for them to consider it better. Men they were, regardless of the orders she knew had been issued. They tied Daenerys on the trunk of a tree.</p><p>She clenched her hands into fists and turned her head so she didn't have to meet their eyes. She wondered if the knife would be enough to defend herself. </p><p>Just as she closed her eyes she heard the choking sounds and what she was sure was an arrow loosened. She opened her eyes and watched the men arm themselves uselessly.</p><p>Daario had intercepted them.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Jon cut Longclaw into Ersland's gorge and slid her out just as lightly. </p><p>Cheers mixed with the screams of despair of their people broke out. The sound of weapons being drawn indicated the fight was no over.</p><p>By the law of the Free Folk, if one chieftain kills another, his warriors answer to the champion. So it was no surprise to him that while Ersland's bled out in the ground, his men remained stiff waiting for an order.</p><p>What was a surprise was seen the Second Sons surrounding them on Jarl's lead.</p><p>Jon snorted and looked to the side. Tormund and other men took up position behind him.</p><p>This was a showdown now.</p><p>Jon glared at him as he assessed his possibilities. Would those men respond to him? Would it be enough against the Second Sons?</p><p>
  <em>Where was Daario?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dany.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His children.</em>
</p><p>Not even when he had faced Lord Glover had Jon felt on the brink of the abyss, depending on a single decision to be made that could them doom all.</p><p>"You proved something today," Jarl said. He was more armed than he had ever seen him and Jon wondered if he would know what to make of it all. Move around in armor. "You have left the honorable man of the North to become a wild warrior."</p><p>Jon took a heavy breath. He picked up Longclaw, prepared for what he would decide.</p><p>It was entirely on him now.</p><p>"May the strongest win," Jarl said, taking the curved sword and in one smooth, sudden movement, turning to cut off the heads of the two soldiers behind him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Val (VIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Val felt herself die and see the stars as her head struck the floor a second time under the force of the foreign soldier above her. She felt hands rushing to reach into her breeches to enter her, but just then she took the knife from the bastard's back and stabbed it in the neck.</p><p>She propped herself up and looked around for Munda. She had honored the strength of her father for even when those bastards had attacked her to the point to break her ribs, she kept fighting and had even bit one deep enough to tear his ear apart.</p><p>It had been five first but more came.</p><p>She wanted to throw herself on the ground but couldn't allow it. Kalea. Jorian. Missella and Dalya. Munda had hidden them in a hole under the haystacks. But she knew they wouldn't have much time until they find out.</p><p>She got up as best she could, holding the gaping wound in her side.</p><p>Another couple of foreign soldiers arrived, brand new, with no scratches. They were as if they were respawning. </p><p>Munda and Val looked at each other and then at them.</p><p>One of them didn't even have to deflect the blow, grabbing Munda's wrist and holding her by the neck, lifting her into the air.</p><p>Val could barely lift up her sword when she was hit in the face and thrown to the ground once more.</p><p>Again.</p><p>She thought perhaps she would be lucky this time and that he would not try to take her as the others, or maybe he would do it with her corpse taking in the mistakes of the others.</p><p>She felt her legs being dragged and soon. With her ear against the floor, Val listened to the soft little voices of the children.</p><p>She leaned her forehead against the wooden floor, tired, just as she heard Tormund's shrill voice crying out, "No one touches my little girl!"</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (XIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"What are you doing here?"</p><p>It was not the response Daario had expected from her after saving her from being raped by these savages. Daario untied her from the tree but not her hands. Maybe he still needed her tamed. </p><p>"I save you," he replied. "Are you okay?"</p><p>Daenerys looked at him with a shocked expression. Daario frowned, puzzled.</p><p>"Daenerys, it's me. Talk to me."</p><p>Her chest began to rise and fall in despair.</p><p>"We have to go back. My children..."</p><p>"Oh Dany, Dany, Dany," he tried to comfort her as tears fell down her cheeks. If things went well, her children were nothing more than food for the hogs. Something that he would never mention of course.</p><p>"Do not call me that way," she whispered against his chest. He had pushed her against him despite her resistance. Daario breathed her in, feeling her fruity scent fade to turn into something more...wild. She carried the smell of the forests.</p><p>She pulled away a looked at him with pleading eyes.</p><p>"Don't call me Dany. I want to go with my children. Daario, take me with my children!"</p><p>"It's late Dany," he yelled at her, holding her face between his hands, "They are gone...Daenerys!"</p><p>She kicked him in the stones and ran in the direction of his horse. Daario was quicker to notice the rope tied to the noose in her hands and stopped her, making her fall on the snowy ground.</p><p>"Let me go!" she screamed. </p><p>"Daenerys!"</p><p>Even with the throbbing pain, Daario lifted them both and shook her to reason, his fingers digging into her arms covered by the sleeves of her dress.</p><p>"If you love me, let me go. I need to be with my children, Daario, I beg you," she started crying.</p><p>"You never beg," Daario realized. Or recalled. </p><p>"Daario, let me go," Daenerys pleaded softly again. "Let me go..."</p><p>Shaken by a sudden wave of violence, Daario slapped her face with such force, he knocked her out.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl  (IX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>A blinding fury conquered him and Jarl pushed forward to attack and strike. The armor was a strange burden to his body but it didn't matter — the irrepressible anger was what motivated him. Jarl turned his back toward his opponent by turning on his left heel, pulling his fist over his left armpit, and pressing down on it strongly. As he exerted pressure on the forte of his blade against the back of his sword, the weapon jumped from his hand. The other man's arm rested with the elbow on his shoulder, and Jarl broke it with his all his might.</p><p>Jarl moved to where his wife lay badly injured. Her blue eyes looked at him bloody and broken. <em>What had I done?</em></p><p>"Kalea," Val told him in barely a whisper. "The children."</p><p>Jarl wanted to take her in his arms and run away with her but he knew that was not what she wished. He then took Val away from where the showdown with the Second Sons was taking place and continued fighting to protect the children, wherever they were.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>He kicked his nameless opponent off-balance in order to strike a solid attack with Longclaw. The Second Son blocked him and attacked by pushing Longclaw out of the way with his sword. Jon blocked him and held Longclaw in such way that he obstructed his attack while hitting his fighting arm. Then he slid it away and launching his blow. </p><p>Jon paused for a moment needing to take a breath when another soldier lunged with his curved sword in his direction. Before he even lifted Longclaw, Ghost caught him midway, attacking his neck.</p><p>Jon swallowed hard and hobbled around before deflecting a sudden attack that came from the side. He felt aimless in the middle of the chaos. He blinked several times as a high-pitched sound rang out in the back of his head. </p><p>
  <em>Dany.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>My children.</em>
</p><p><em>Wolves Den</em>.</p><p>He pressed his eyes and then opened them,  trying to make sense of the images around him. The Second Sons had turned against them, just as they would eventually. But he had expected to see Daario in command. Not that he would leave his army headless.</p><p><em>Why would he do it?</em> He asked himself. The answer quickly came to his mind.</p><p><em>Dany</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (XIV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Daario cursed under his breath.</p><p>It was not only the fact that Jarl had not kept his word but that his men could not stand a group of barbarians and wildlings. He was not there to guide them, to tell them where and when to attack.</p><p>Stilled on his horse and with an unconscious Daenerys carefully placed in front of him, he watched from a distance as his plan failed. </p><p>His eyes looked tried to place Jon Snow and Daario hoped that at least he was lucky enough in that — and that his men had been quick enough to reach the children.</p><p><em>No, no, no, no. There must be an option, </em>he reached into the abyss of his mind. </p><p>Any plan was pointless however if Daenerys woke up to find him a traitor. He was supposed to save her — she was supposed to see him with different eyes. Yet the moment she saw him, it was not relief what Daario found in those eyes of her but panic and terror. She looked at Daario in the same way she looked at those men who tried to hurt her.</p><p>Because he was going to hurt her.</p><p>She knew it, he realized.</p><p>And in his helplessness, he felt compelled to take that look away from her.</p><p>He looked at her sleeping form lying on his chest, the blow of his hand bruising her soft cheekbone.</p><p>There was no way out. </p><p>Daario hurried his horse and rode in the opposite direction, away from Wolves Den.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Don't let them go," Jon ordered one of his men holding him by the neck and looking desperately at the retreat of the Second Sons. They got into their ships as the very cowards fled. A part of his mind that was still thinking clearly knew that he couldn't let them go.</p><p>"Archers!" that man replied, "Rain fire!"</p><p><em>It wouldn't be enough</em>, Jon thought, as he stumbled on his way to the docks. Daario in his mind. </p><p>A soldier ran toward him and Jon, exhausted, did nothing but block and strike from behind. </p><p>His eyes went again to the ships. It fleetingly crossed his mind the image of Daario in there and Dany. Despair ripped through him. </p><p>Val told them that Daenerys would be taken by Ersland's men. Daario would think she was away as the clash unfolded. </p><p>Leaving Dany in the hands of these men was not a more reassuring notion, but she couldn't be on those ships. He would know if his wife had ever crossed the fields.</p><p>Yet Daario was not there as they had thought. </p><p>Voices of astonishment flared.</p><p>Jon pushed several people aside to make his way to the railing and he saw, with confusion as those in the ships started jumping overboard while screaming.</p><p>When their bodies began to reach the shore, their bodies and faces were disfigured, as if their skin had been turned outward. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Almost out of breath, Jon dropped to his knees when he saw that the barn where the children were to be hidden was on fire. No. His head spun and he nearly lost his sanity as a high-pitched wail let out his throat.</p><p>"Little Crow," he heard Tormund's cry. Jon didn't see him anywhere, or maybe it was his eyes that couldn't focus on anything else. "Little Crow!" he listened further and further.</p><p>"PAPA!"</p><p>His soul returned to his body.</p><p>Even coming back from the dead had never felt as intense to him as when he heard the joint voices of their children calling for him.</p><p>Jorian, Missella, and Dalya pounced on him and threw him to the ground. He wanted to cry and sink into a deep sleep. He kissed the little heads of each of them as he held them tightly against his body, searching for any injuries they might have with his touch.</p><p>"They took her away," Missella whimpered. Little hands clinging to the neck of his clothes. "I want Mama!"</p><p>It was like getting hit in the face.</p><p>"Where is Dany?" Jon asked. </p><p>Tormund shook his head, frowning.</p><p>"She was supposed to be here already," a voice cut in.</p><p>Jarl.</p><p>Jon scrambled to his feet, only to launch himself full-length on Jarl.</p><p>"Where is Daario?" he spat in his face as he slammed his head against the ground.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLVII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Daenerys blinked gently until the image of a luminous sky formed in front of her eyes. As she regained consciousness, she observed the peaks of the snowy mountains and their purple-blue slopes. She had dreamed so many times of flying with Drogon above them, taking the children with her and making them taste the heavens in their mouths — the closest taste to freedom she had ever known. She quickly realized that it was just an illusion, she tried to move her hands but found them restrained in the tight binding of her wrists.</p><p>The pain on one side of her face reminded her that the only real thing was Daario's bestial image seconds before knocking her unconscious with his fist.</p><p>She found him a few feet from her, crestfallen as he leaned on the horse that had brought him there. A vague memory crossed her mind, that of Khal Drogo on the night of their wedding.</p><p>Daenerys felt herself dying.</p><p>"Daario," she called him softly, almost pleading, "What are you doing?"</p><p>When Val arrived at their home last night, Dany's first instinct had been to run away while Val assured them Jarl would not betray them, that they should trust him.</p><p>Jon had wanted to go straight to cut off his head.</p><p>"I told you this was our last chance and you didn't want to listen to me," Daario spoke in a grim tone, with his back to her. When he turned, he had a pained expression on his face. "Look where you left us, Daenerys. Look what you are making me do!"</p><p>Dany looked around. They were on a cliff.</p><p>"Daario, what are you going to do?"</p><p>"He told me, you know? And I doubted it. I doubt it until I saw this place and I realized that he meant it," he spoke desperately. Stepping abruptly toward her, Dany tried to back away only to almost slide off the cliff.</p><p>Daario grabbed her and held her. His closeness made her sick.</p><p>"Who is he?" Dany asked him barely in a whisper. She didn't want to look into his eyes.</p><p>"The boy King," he replied, forcing her to look at him. "He told me that you would come back to me. He showed it to me."</p><p>"Bran," Dany said, her eyebrows twisted as she winced. "If you do this, I'm not going to come back to you. You're going to kill us both!"</p><p>Daario shook his head. "We'll be together. For good."</p><p>"Daario, there is nothing after death. We are not going to be together. We are just going to be dead."</p><p>"There is no other way out," Daario angrily denied. </p><p>Dany felt more and more like she was floating in the air, her heart rising up her throat.</p><p>"There is always another way out. You told me so, remember?" She tried to sound compassionate when all she wanted was to call for Drogon and have him not only executed but make him suffer before killing him. "<em>I am Daario Naharis. I always have an option</em>. You told me that when you gave me your sword...and your heart," she said, stroking as she could his cheek. </p><p>His eyes softened and his lips curved in a half-smile.</p><p>"You remember..." he whispered. </p><p>"I will always remember it," she reinforced. "You have always been willing to do anything for me."</p><p>Daario brought a hand behind her beck, pushing her face so close that when he spoke his lips grazed over hers.</p><p>Dany held back a grimace of disgust, attempting to pluck the knife from the little scabbard Munda gave her.</p><p>"I have to do this Daenerys. I can't let you go."</p><p>The snow-molten greenery behind Daario shifted, stirring the horse. He was about to turn around but Dany craned her neck and kissed him, closing her mouth tightly to only touch his lips. </p><p>"It's okay," she reassured him as she could, blinking quickly to peer behind them without him noticing. "But nothing comes after that..."</p><p>Daario let out one of those light-hearted laughs that she used to enjoy. Now it sickened her. </p><p>"But not everything is lost..." she had to be careful with her next words. For that, Daenerys emphasized with the circular movements of her fingers on his armored chest up to his neck, "<em>The gods gave men two gifts to entertain ourselves before we die. The thrill of fucking a woman who wants to be fucked, and the thrill of killing a man who wants to kill you.</em>"</p><p>She looked up at him with pleading eyes.</p><p>"Give me that before we die."</p><p>He didn't even look reluctant for a second, just apprehensive as if he feared that what she told him was just a sweet dream.</p><p>"We do not have time," he stated, callused hands down her neck, shaky and awkward.</p><p>Dany moved against him, rubbing as closely as she could, sighing and releasing close to his ear words she knew would drive him to the abyss, "Daario Naharis always has an option."</p><p>Probably deep inside him, he didn't believe her, but he was a dead man, and dead men would give away their last seconds for a moment of thrill.</p><p>Daenerys welcomed his mouth and they merged into a kiss, one that she endured until she opened her eyes and met her husband's dark eyes in the distance, and she cut the ties of her wrist.</p><p>Behind them, Jon loosened the arrow that crossed Daario's neck.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daario (XV)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>One moment he was touching the sky with his hands and the next, that same sky was the only thing he saw while he was in free fall. </p><p>Daario tried to take Daenerys with him the moment he felt the intrusion but she was already far from his reach and him, pushed into the abyss by a strange force. </p><p>The arrow choked him, filling his mouth with blood that he couldn't swallow.</p><p>And above him, a white beast covered the sky as he exposed her fangs before closing his mouth on his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>The moment she pulled away from Daario when the arrow entered a side of his neck, Dany fell onto her side of his neck and crawled away so he wouldn't take her with him.</p><p>She thought to glimpse Ghost's stealthy paws rush toward him to push him all the way.</p><p>Jon got to her immediately.</p><p>"I got you, I got you," he picked her up and dragged her to where they were safe. She still felt that she was falling, soaring to the emptiness. Dany couldn't even notice the tears she was shedding without really crying. "Dany, look at me, look at me."</p><p>Dany blinked and looked up. Her shaking hand touched his face to make sure he was real.</p><p>Daario's screams broke in, even with his throat cut by the arrow.</p><p>"Ghost," she said, clearly thinking of the fall.</p><p>"It's nothing to him," Jon reassured her. He rocked them while embracing her. "You are safe." He kissed her forehead. "Gods, I love you."</p><p>Dany's eyes fixed on the mountains and she sighed, thinking of freedom but it no longer brought her peace. </p><p>All that she wanted was peace.</p><p>"I need you," she whispered at first, absently. But then she clearer, looking up, "I need you now."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The screams faded as another plethora of colorful emotions overwhelmed her senses. Passion, desire, anger, pain, sadness, love. It was too much at once for one person. Luckily Jon didn't seem to be far away, taking her with him to that void where they were in free fall.</p><p>He let out a guttural sound as he struggled to finish undoing the leather ties on the gown she had chosen just for him, taking the away dagger hanging from her scabbard and cutting them without much care. </p><p>Far from feeling offended or impressed, she continued to bite and kiss the skin of his neck and fumble for the ties of his breeches. She quivered and let out a loud whimper when in a sudden movement he finished splitting the dress in half, falling to his knees next to the material that unveiled her naked body. He did not get up again, staying on his knees gawking at her, sliding his gaze from bottom to top until he reached her eyes, where she was sure he would find naught but the sincere devotion she felt for him, that way of loving him bare of all prudence and reason.</p><p>His hands went to hold on her hips as hers cradled his face. He took her by surprise when he leaned on his head to rest it on lower belly.</p><p>She buried her hands in his hair and forced him to raise his face to look her straight in the eye.</p><p>"Did you really think I would give myself to another when I already gave myself to you for good?" she asked him, every word coated with sadness. Dany knew what answer he would give. "I am yours, and you are mine," she said fiercely and she felt him gently digging his fingers into the skin of her hips as she spoke the words. "And we were made for each other."</p><p>The grief in his eyes shifted back to an intense desire and soon his mouth went to kiss her where she needed him the most. </p><p> </p><p>
  <br/>
  <strong>Jon (XLVI)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><br/>Her body flailed like a flag in the wind and he knew she will resist no longer on her feet. He lay down on the fur on his back and guided her to sit so that her cunt could be atop his face and thus continue with his ministrations. He drank from her like a thirsty man in the desert, pushing his fingers inside and out her while he kissed and suck on her sensitive swell. He edged her to the limit and leave her there, whining without inhibitions of any kind before bringing her back in a mischievous way of displaying his dominance over her. </p><p>As if hearing his thoughts, she let her upper body fall on top of him, and soon her hands wrapped around his cock. A ragged moan escaped from Jon's mouth when she brought her mouth over him, the first touch of her tongue making his head hit the ground. As her hair tickled his tights he muffled a groan when she engulfed him in her wet heat. </p><p>She pulled herself away and crawled up to face him, meeting in a gentle kiss with parted lips, running their tongues back and forth together. Her eyes fluttered open and he saw in them again the same look of tenderness and bare affection she gave him when their love had just begun. It made him shiver and upended his heart. Before he could say it, she silenced him with a kiss.</p><p>"I love you, too," she said against his lips, "But don't get soft now."</p><p>A rush of adrenaline shot through his body as he remembered what had brought them there at the beginning, and the primal instinct that had ruled his senses until a few minutes ago returned to claim his sanity.</p><p>He propelled himself upward and flipped them over, making her lay on her back while her legs spread on instinct. Between intermittent kisses and caresses, she helped him finish undressing. </p><p> </p><p>
  <br/>
  <strong>Daenerys (XLIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Whatever had taken possession of him, she made no attempt to counter him. Instead, she became docile and pliant beneath his touch, keeping him attached to her when both were near release. </p><p>"Is this what you want?" he managed to say with a hoarse voice. </p><p>She didn't answer him and instead pulled him down and kissed him as he grabbed that hand and pinned her both arms down effortlessly while his other arm lifted up her leg above his shoulders so he could plump into her at a better angle. Graceful fingers found their way to her swelling bud and she was seeing the stars while gasping against his mouth. Not long after, he was racing before coming to slow but hard motion, spurting out his seed into her. Dany did not care if it blossomed or not but she was resolved to take the chance and stop being afraid of what the future might be.</p><p>Afterward, cold air blew and bodies ached for the exertion. She peered at her trashed clothes and slapped his shoulder in reprimand. </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (X)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Some of the people shot him sharp glances as he crossed the bridge into the Great Hall. Jarl flinched a bit but ignored it, after all, they'd had what they'd finally been wanting all this time: a good fight.</p><p>The tribe was scattered across the hall, engulfed in the post-victory feast. Jon Snow was at the back of the building, her dark but imposing figure awaiting him in the shadows. </p><p>Tormund was there too, his blue eyes throwing daggers at him as he stepped through the drapery into the secluded room.</p><p>Jon looked at him expectantly from his place across the table, calmly gnawing at his meat.</p><p>"What have you give to Ersland's men?" </p><p>Jon sipped his ale before answering.</p><p>"They'll keep the ships and everything in it," he responded. It seemed like there was more so Jarl waited he ate to continue, "Perhaps some of them will settle on Hardhome when our port becomes strong enough. It's becoming quite large. But not in here. This place cannot grow beyond what already has." </p><p>"And the Second Sons?"</p><p>"All dead. Kinvara made sure no one leaves alive."</p><p>Jarl swallowed hard and nodded.</p><p>"I didn't kill her. I went there and I intended to do it but..." He blinked and tried to find the words.</p><p>"It was as if someone else's will," Jon finished for him. He crossed his arms and leaned on the table. He squinted his eyes at Jarl. "You could have turned on me. Why didn't you?"</p><p>Jarl shrugged.</p><p>"I don't seek to steal your place. I don't care about that. I care about my people. And it that, we are all in one same side."</p><p>Jon didn't look convinced.</p><p>"Everyone wants something. Would you tell me you are the exception?"</p><p>"I want something."</p><p>"I cannot and I won't return Val's child."</p><p>"It's not that. Not anymore."</p><p>Jon waited in silence.</p><p>"I want our old way back," Jarl declared. His eyes went to the bloody clothes and weapons on the corner. He recognized the particular dagger of Daario Naharis among them and smiled smugly. "You've tasted it. To kill a man that desired what it's yours. Tell me how it felt for you?"</p><p>Jon gave away nothing with his expression. </p><p>"People in Wolves Den know of what Val and you do, but beyond these walls, I have not said in your affairs," Jon conceded. "However, and as long as no one opposes and fights for it, I will be the one to say when and where there will be room to return to the old ways. Do you understand me?"</p><p>Jarl said nothing.</p><p>"You are a clever man and a brave warrior. When the time comes, you will have what you want in blood and glory. But put my family and the people of Wolves Den in danger again, and nothing but..." he also looked at the bloody clothes and the ownerless dagger, "will remain of you," he finished saying.</p><p>Jarl looked down before nodding. He had no more to say. He still didn't know where this left them but he knew that between a man like Daario Naharis, a man like Jon Snow, and himself, which was one man worth fighting for.</p><p>He turned to leave when nearly he bumped into Daenerys, stopped behind him with a still, stern gaze.</p><p>They gave each other a long look before she took a step forward, making him step back.</p><p>"Do it again," she started to say, expression impassive with the hint of a lethal smile, "And I'm going to burn you myself."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Val was tucked in bed next to the dark-haired girl who dozed on her chest, one arm stretched out around her neck and Val's hand patting her back gently. </p><p>His wife, ever the warrior. The old wood witch had come down to heal her, placing bandages around her rib cage and giving her herbal tea to ease the pain. Jarl had failed her terribly. In his eagerness to return things to the way they were, he almost lost her.  Would she ever forgive him?</p><p>He breathed heavily and rubbed his face wearily. When his eyes locked again, the girl was staring at him with eyes no longer terrified but curious.</p><p><em>Kalea</em>.</p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (L)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Do it again and I'm going to burn you myself."</p><p>Dany stared at Jarl even as he walked around her and left the hall.</p><p>Jon chuckled behind her. Dany raised an eyebrow and challenged him to counter her threat. He raised his hands in the air and leaned back against the pillows and furs of the seat.</p><p>Dany walked slowly over him until she was straddling his lap, taking his tankard of ale with her and taking a sip of it. She still preferred the taste of wine but she didn't totally dislike it now.</p><p>She felt him shift under her and she widened her eyes.</p><p>"Here?" she asked him with an amusing look. </p><p>He was not amused.</p><p>"Everywhere," he replied, removing the tankard from her hand and pushing her from her neck toward him to kiss her.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Their bed was taken over by strange little bodies that huddled between them, Jorian snuggled into her chest and the girls closer to Jon. Dalya was the only one awake, her violet eyes staring at Dany with open curiosity. With the arm that was resting under Jorian, she reached for her smooth cheek to caress her. The girl smiled for a moment before giving in to the heaviness of her eyelids and falling into a deep slumber.</p><p>"Give it time," Jon said, whispering the words. "She is stubborn like her mother."</p><p>Dany brought her hand on Dalya's cheek to Jon's shoulder, giving it a gentle pinch. He was wearing the tunic although they would commonly be lying in their nameday suits if it wasn't for their little invaders.</p><p>"It won't be like this; they have to understand where they belong," Jon told her and she dismissed him, pretending to be the stringent threat he wasn't. Not once the children have bent his will. </p><p>"Did you like it?" she blurted out. "What we did while Daario was dying."</p><p>His eyes went from the ceiling to her own, bright in the dim light of a single candle. </p><p>"I enjoyed it, pretty much," he replied.</p><p>She could tell so, her nether parts still resented. </p><p>"It is what they do. Val and Jarl," she reminded him. "So, keep yourself away from Dalra or I will take a walk with her the next time," she teased him.</p><p>It wasn't a real threat, wasn't it? She found herself asking. There was little control of her part when it came to these feelings — she believed in him wholeheartedly, but not in her own reactions. </p><p>As best he could, Jon reached for her neck and gave her a gentle squeeze. </p><p>"I love you," he proffered, "Only you. Always you."</p><p>"I know," Dany said, in plain confidence. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Dany walked alone to the site where Kinvara's remains were left. She needed this moment for herself. Now that she wouldn't be there, she felt a little more lost.</p><p>Daario was dead and although it was something necessary and good, his informants were somewhere in Essos, waiting to receive information of his whereabouts they would not receive...and that would warn them that the time had come to let the world know what they knew.</p><p>Dany closed a hand around her neck. She closed her eyes and pondered her options once more.</p><p>
  <em>"A Queen has played the game. And now a Queen has given the God of death his gift."</em>
</p><p>Dany almost screamed.</p><p>In front of her, in the middle of the darkness, a single black candle had been lit that seemed to float in the air.</p><p>"Who's there?"</p><p>But nobody answered.</p><p>That voice...she tried to remember.</p><p>It was the voice of the faceless man in Braavos.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Lyrissos (III)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Volantis.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"Please, no, no!"</p><p>Lyrissos sat on the seat in the middle of the room as his guards took care of the second informant of Daario Naharis behind him. He did not enjoy to see the spilling of blood, so he engaged in the observation of the stones in the jar in front of him, the same ones he had found in the brothel.</p><p>"My Lord, the bodies..." one of his guards approached, his uniform stained with blood.</p><p>"Oh right. Burn them." He pretended to not see the blood. "It's healthier than throwing them in the canal."</p><p>The guard left and Lyrissos stayed in his own thoughts. Although this matter had been dealt with, there were still many things left to consider.  Daenerys would have to return for her campaign to continue on Slaver's Bay. While her authority was settled here with the Council helping to reinforce it, rumors were becoming louder and louder about her absence that could prove worse than death for her.</p><p>And for her husband.</p><p>"A man is a negotiator."</p><p>Lyrissos was surprised by the appearance of a faceless man. Not that he was familiar with them but he did know of their sudden appearances and their ambiguous tongue.</p><p>Truth be told, he was more surprised that he appeared to him.</p><p>"Ehm, correct," he managed to say. He stood up and put his hands in his pockets.</p><p>"A man can bargain if he wants to. The red god paid a great price for the Dragon Queen. And the Dragon Queen has played the game well."</p><p>Lyrissos squinted at him.</p><p>"A man will have to excuse me but my understanding of things is much simpler. Daenerys promised an offering."</p><p>"She has played the game well."</p><p>"That's good to know. So now this man can give a faceless man the name that he wishes to give to the god of death."</p><p>Lyrissos made sure to play along...the game.</p><p>The faceless man cocked his head.</p><p>"Oh a man can negotiate. The god of death likes to keep playing."</p><p>Lyrissos swallowed and stood confused.</p><p>"A man does not understand."</p><p>"A man can give him a name and it will be handed over to the god of death. Or a man can ask the faceless man for names."</p><p>He cleared his throat.</p><p>"What names exactly?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know, I know. Taylor's song is about infidelity and murder but Daario deserves it in this chapter.</p><p>Sorry the delay again but I kinda wanted to review it a second time and I just kept adding more.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. I'll be good for all the times that I never could.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dany and Jon's life blooms in the north beyond the wall but concerns arise and an issue has yet to be resolved.<br/>Sansa tries to face the challenges of her life as queen and mother.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I can't believe I've had half of this chapter written like, in October of last year and it still took me forever to complete lol. I'm still ending the story in chapter 29, 30 at the most.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong>27.</strong>
</p><p><strong>I'll be good for all the times that I never could</strong>.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Daenerys</strong> <strong>(LI)</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Wolves Den</strong>.</p><p>Dalya was hopping to the sound of a High Valyrian dirge Daenerys was singing to her. Unlike others, this was not dreary nor did it evoke a feeling of sorrow for those who were no longer there but a celebration of life and the fact they had lived in the first place.</p><p>Her youngest daughter had a very good predisposition for the High Valyrian, a language which Dany commonly spoke to all her children, although with Dalya it's been a slower process due to their long separation. She'd spoken to Jorian and Missella in her mother tongue as they were living in Ser Willem's house in Braavos and it hadn't changed much once they settled in the north, except for the fact that only a handful of people understood them. One of them was Jon thanks to his interest in the books that Lyrissos had gifted them. </p><p>Seven moons turned since their return home and things seemed to settle at a steady pace. Dalya had abandoned her strangeness with Daenerys and was now always attached to her mother's skirts while Dany carried out her daily chores. Of the three children, she had been the most difficult to convince to leave her parents' bed. </p><p>Jorian, in his chaotic way, stopped feeling the constant threat of abandonment by entertaining his energies in physical activities. He was still overprotective of Daenerys and had sworn that he would become the best warrior of the Free Folk so he could "go with her to Essos to <em>help</em> her <em>help</em> people."</p><p><em>"Papa can stay with Missella and Dalya next time, and I'll go with you,"</em> he had argued, surprising Daenerys and Jon by assuming, almost without distress, that there was going to be a next time. His parents assumed that much of that decision was based on his overriding desire to meet Drogon.</p><p>Missella, on the other hand, ha remained careful, almost as if she wanted to protect herself from the pain of losing her parents again. After what had transpired on that fateful day with Daario and the Second Sons, she hadn't returned to be the loving and caring child she had been when Dany left, and it broke her mother's heart as much.</p><p>No matter how her children chose to behave as a result of their experiences, Daenerys did her best throughout that time to return to being the mother they knew and who she had not ceased to be, no matter how much distance had created a rift between them.</p><p>It hadn't been much different for Jon, whose pain manifested in silence, taking his wife's insistence for him to open up and express his concerns about not understanding some things about their little ones.</p><p>Dany chose to believe that this was what parenting was all about — constant learning as the children grew up and moved further away from them to belong more to the world.</p><p>As she and her daughter made their way through the camp of their retinue toward the Fist of the First Men, Dany nodded to the various people who greeted her. Some of them were familiar faces of women who she came to get close to during the journey to Braavos. The others were the farmers she worked with every day. She held deep affection for all of them and she liked to believe they for her as well. Of all the places Dany had lived, she felt that she had made a true home among the Free Folk, even though at times she couldn't feel fully a part of them.</p><p>Homelife was noisy, dirty, and smelly, but cozy and communal too. While she and Jon had brought a sense of organization, their influence had been minimal in a culture that had already been more or less organized. Women enjoyed a high degree of freedom, could own property, ask for a divorce if not treated properly, and they shared responsibility for running farms and homesteads with their menfolk. But it was not like that everywhere. The Free Folk was a vast community and life beyond the wall was not limited to the surroundings of the Wall itself and Hardhome. </p><p>Before even opening the flap of her tent, Daenerys guessed from the sounds coming from it what she would find.</p><p>"<em>Kelītīs, riñar</em>," she told Jorian and Sigurd when she found them engaged at a game of wrestling on the tent's furred-floor. Jorian lifted his eyes off the other kid and looked at her with those stormy gray eyes of him. "<em>Daor vīlībāzma</em>," <em>no fighting</em> she reminded him.</p><p>Reluctantly, her son gave up the scuffle. </p><p>Sigurd walked over to her with a smiling face, giving her a hug. She returned the gesture and then squeezed his chin when he pulled away to leave. </p><p>Jorian started nagging about not being allowed to participate in the fighting rounds as were all of the other children of his age. He was not even eight and was already trying to test himself with children almost twice his age. The lifestyle there was harsh and the passage from childhood to maturity, especially for children, always entailed their performance on the battlefield. </p><p>She could still remember how she almost lost her voice that time she discovered another knife hidden beneath his bedding. </p><p>"When your father finds the time befitting," she simply answered to his grievances. In truth, it was an unspoken agreement that Jon would not say the words until she deemed it timely. Meanwhile, training in the standard sense of the Seven Kingdoms was all that he was allowed. </p><p>Jorian rolled his eyes at his mother and walked past to leave the tent, just as Dany caught him in a hug. Of course, she wouldn't stop her children from preparing to become proper warriors, yet in Dany's eyes, they were still her babies.</p><p>Daenerys fixed her eyes on Missella, who was on her pallet, feathers, and sticks around her.</p><p>"Missella sweetling, what are you doing?" Dany asked her.</p><p>Without taking her eyes off her work, the girl answered quietly, "Fletching arrows."</p><p>Just as Jorian had focused his energies on combat and knives, for Missella the bow and arrow had become her priority — leaving all behind her bone dolls and clay figurines.</p><p>Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of her older children hardly paying attention to their toys anymore.</p><p>"Missella is making butterflies, Mama," Dalya pointed out when she saw the fletchings. </p><p>The girl scampered to where her older sister was and perched on her shoulder to get a better view. Missella apprehensively moved her feathers away from the young one's reach. Another thing that Dany had noticed was how much Missella had gained a sense of what she wanted to be only hers, which in turn, clashed with Dalya's growing curiosity as she still conceived the world as something limitless to discover. </p><p>"Dalya, would you mind helping me?" Dany called the attention of the little girl so she would leave her sister alone, and with her head, she nodded towards the table where wool awaited her to be spun on a spindle. Dalya scampered back to her side.</p><p>Dany showed the process to the little girl, who found it amusing.</p><p>"It's a cloud, Mama!"</p><p>"No, it's wool from the sheep in our flock, the ones that make <em>baa</em>," Dany mimicked the sound of those animals, eliciting another fit of laughter from her daughter. "Look, I hold it and you turn it," she invited.</p><p>They were at it for a long time before Missella approached with inquiring eyes. Dany was about to ask her if she needed anything, believing that maybe the constant chatter was bothering her when she spoke by herself,</p><p>"Can I help too?"</p><p>Dany's heart pounded in her chest. She opened an arm to make room for Missella at her side, who nestled in and give her a rapid hug before getting into it all as well. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Jon</strong> <strong>(XLVII)</strong></p><p> </p><p>"I'm not going to spend another year raising those dragonwolves of you," Tormund complained when he found him brooding near a cliff above their camp. Jon did not immediately know what had elicited it until he realized that Dany's state was no longer a secret between the two of them. </p><p>Jon scoffed.</p><p>"Munda did all the hard work," he returned.</p><p>"Maybe, but those little shits ask question after question and words are not my strength, Little Crow," Tormund argued after laughing. "Also, your Dragon Queen is very strict about words - don't swear, don't tell them about the dragons, don't swear..."</p><p>Jon chuckled too. As much as Dany tried to guard the children's ears against adult's words, they always seemed to find some new term with which to torment their mother.</p><p>Just last night Jorian had asked what <em>cunt</em> was.</p><p>"You know what they say, you had to find a way to keep yourself warm," Jon reminded his friend of his own advice from many years ago.</p><p>"Aye, but there are also woods witches, and moon tea," Tormund replied. "I should have talked to you more often about it. What is that? You're always with that," he asked him with his attention turned on the object in his hands. </p><p>Jon looked down at the tome he was holding. One of those Lyrissos had gifted them.</p><p>"A book about the Valyrians," Jon answered. </p><p>"The dragon people, eh? Something useful there?"</p><p><em>Quite a bit</em>, Jon thought with amusement, not wanting to delve further into it.</p><p>"Do we have news from the scouts?" Jon asked, turning the conversation to another matter.</p><p>"Aye, bring your brooding arse down to the camp. We have to discuss it."</p><p>Jon nodded and followed him down.</p><p>Ersland's attack had been a warning. Coming home had not been the idyllic rest he had hoped for. As soon as the news of the return of what among their people was called <em>the great plunder across the sea</em>, objections from the other chieftains had arisen.</p><p>A meeting would take place again after almost three years. The last time, Jon had just recovered his family and because of them, he had decided to take the reins of the affairs of the Free Folk at least as far as it concerned him and was necessary to protect his family.</p><p>Back in the time, his meddling had been frowned upon by those who rightly believed that he was not really part of them. His victory in the first confrontation with Sansa and Lord Glover had won him the support of much of the warriors but not entirely their acceptance.</p><p>Jon was realistic in this regard. Why would he have more authority than someone that was part of them and had always been on this side of the wall?</p><p><em>"You have done more for them than any of their leaders," </em>he recalled Daenerys' words when he brought it up with her. <em>"Sometimes to improve things you just have to act, not dwell on the chaff."</em></p><p>He smiled to himself thinking of Dany burning the Khals of Vaes Dothrak to take their khalasars.</p><p>"Papa!" Jorian's voice came from one side and the boy slammed against him.</p><p>"Hey, mind your pace," Jon admonished him softly, pushing him a little. "What happened?"</p><p>He and his friend Sigurd had mischievous smiles on their faces and their hair raised in a bun as he himself wore it. Jorian's silver hair stood out next to his best friend's blonde hair. </p><p>"Can we see the scouts and the man with the queer headgear? Can we?" Jorian asked without stopping to explain why the rush.</p><p>Being of a taciturn temperament himself, Jon sometimes found it difficult to keep up with his son's unbridled rhythm.</p><p>Jon chuckled and gestured for them to follow him into the tent where they would meet. Inside were the usual faces plus the scouts, who were assailed with questions from the children as soon as they saw them. </p><p>Jon walked to Jarl, who was absorbed in an early design of the map of the lands Beyond the Wall that they had achieved thanks to the work of the scouts and Idrisi, a scholar from Essos that was temporarily living in  Hardhome and who was also a traveler and experienced explorer. He was the man of the queer headgear the children so desperately wanted to see.</p><p>"It is called <em>chaperon</em>," he heard Idrisi answer to the children's question about his <em>queer headgear</em>.</p><p>"What are the news?" Jon asked anyone who wanted to answer.</p><p>Jarl looked up at his presence.</p><p>"Sigorn is not pleased," he warned.</p><p>"And how do you know?"</p><p>"Because he's behind you," he pointed out.</p><p>Jon frowned and turned, finding the Magnar of the Thenns glaring at him from his seat surrounded by his escorts. He hadn't noticed them at first.</p><p>"Good to know," Jon said sternly. </p><p>Jarl rested his clenched fists on the table as he was prepared to intercede in the exchange once more time since Jon still lacked mastery of the Old Tongue.</p><p>Jon took a seat and the audience began although he was not sure that it should be since they were still on their way to the main encampment and only Sigorn and not the rest was present. </p><p>"Magnar Sigorn, I'm glad to see you in good health," he began, slowly as Jarl behind him interpreted the words for Sigorn. "However, I don't think this meeting should take place until the other clans are assembled."</p><p>Sigorn answered with harsh words, or so Jon believed when he heard the bluntness with which he spoke.</p><p>"He wants to know why he was not called to participate in the great plunder across the sea. He feels affronted," Jarl let him know. His voice was monotonous in comparison.</p><p>Jon realized that the Magnar paid little mind to his first objection.</p><p>"We never agreed to carry out a joint assault. My word was the fair and equitable sharing of the spoils of war," Jon reminded him. He crouched down and rested his arms on his lap, staring back at the other chief. "Our deal was an alliance of mutual collaboration and peace. I was not aware that you wanted to join the looting parties. You never let me know."</p><p>"He demands another redistribution of the riches that came to Hardhome and a new assault," Jarl translated.</p><p>Jon almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his demand. Essos was not exactly an ideal place to carry out such task whenever they wanted and it had not even been true looting according to the understanding of the free folk. Furthermore, Jon was not willing for Sigorn, no matter how much he respected him for his authority over the Free Folk, to believe that he was a vassal of his or that he was lower in the chain of command.</p><p>"As far as I know, I kept my word," Jon said.</p><p>"I can't say that," Jarl said before turning to the Magnar.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because you promised him a castle in the south and a wife. And you don't have any of those things here to give him, right?"</p><p>Jon raised a questioning eyebrow at Jarl.</p><p>"I never promised him those things. I listened to his request and we talked about keeping the wall's territory secured and moving forward. We never agreed on how we were to carry out such move."</p><p>Jarl almost rolled his eyes as he spoke to the Magnar.</p><p>Sigorn's chest heaved up and down in a clear sign of dissatisfaction.</p><p>Jon felt Jorian approaching his side, leaning on the armrest of the chair.</p><p>"Go back to your mother," he indicated to his son when he noticed that the tension would escalate. With his eyes, he asked Tormund to escort him there.</p><p>When he looked back at Sigorn he saw that his furious gaze had changed to something else, between envy and helplessness. When he spoke, he seemed to spit out the words with contempt.</p><p>He heard the heavy sigh that Jarl trailed behind him.</p><p>"The Magnar says that you speak from a privileged place. With a powerful wife, children, and riches. That the other chieftains will see with jealousy that a single man holds so much to himself."</p><p>Jon's jaw clenched despite the subtlety of his threat.</p><p>"Let the Magnar know he shall think better the next time he believes himself bold enough to talk about my family," his head turned slightly, "Unless he wants to resolve our disagreement in single combat."</p><p>Jon stood up and retired.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (XII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"I don't think it was a threat, he was rather warning you," Daenerys replied when Snow finished recounting the encounter with the Magnar and the exchange that had ended in nothing.</p><p>Snow looked at his wife in disbelief.</p><p>"Isn't it the same?" he asked.</p><p>They were all gathered in their tent. Lying on the floor as they shared supper and the children scampered around doing what children do best: noise and chaos.</p><p>Jarl extended one of his arms to his side for Jorian, Sigurd, and Kalea to stop before they even tried to put branches in his hair again.</p><p>"Not at all. I don't think it was ill-intended in spite of the poor delivery of his words," he heard Daenerys replied as he turned slowly and glared at the three infants behind him.</p><p>The three of them ran off while giggling.</p><p><em>Little shits</em>, he thought amusedly.</p><p>When he looked at Val next to him, she was giving him a soft look, the kind of which she rarely allowed herself in front of strangers. He smiled fondly too, feeling all the love for her burn inside him.</p><p>"It seems to me that you are not considering the crux in this whole matter, my love," the Dragon Queen surprised with her statement. Everyone stared at her in awe, even her husband. She raised an eyebrow briefly. "Sigorn wants a castle in the south and a wife. The time has come to plunder the kingdom of sweet Queen Sansa Stark."</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The other chieftains will see with jealousy that a single man holds so much to himself.</em>
</p><p>Jon kept those words in his mind as he carefully observed the looks the other men gave him. He didn't enjoy gatherings or celebrations for the most part, but he did enjoy seeing the people he cared most about being happy and joyful. So, he carried on as the sounds of lively music flowed and the festive spirit embraced them, even following Dany around the campfire to dance as he held her close and later his daughters when they assaulted him from behind, climbing on him, while Jorian hugged his mother. He couldn't stop smiling like a fool although the thought nagged at him.</p><p>Everything seemed to be going smoothly. That was until the Magnar rose to his feet and walk over the fire throw his ale, fanning the flames and drawing the attention of everyone present. Afterward, he began to speak in a shrill and confrontational tone of voice towards the lot of them.</p><p>Jon got up and walked a few steps followed by Dany.</p><p>"Stay back," he told her.</p><p>Daenerys ignored it and turned to Jarl. "What is he saying?"</p><p>"He doesn't think there is any motivation for celebration," he replied, frowning as he listened and translated at the same time. "Send your children away."</p><p>Jon clenched his fists and glanced at Tormund and the rest of his people behind them.</p><p>"Wait," Daenerys squeezed his arm, drawing his attention. "We don't have to do this. There is a better solution to this conflict," she spoke looking straight into his eye.</p><p>Jon wiggled out of her grasp. "I won’t bargain with those who threaten me and my family."</p><p>Daenerys tilted her head. "We will have many enemies then, don't you think?"</p><p>Jon took a deep breath and searched his children as he heard the Magnar's deep voice and the shouting responses of the other men.  Jorian and Missella were scattered around still with the other children, indifferent to the building tension. Dalya was sleeping soundly on a fur that Dany had spread out near them. Jon decided that Dany's words made more sense than he gave them.</p><p>
  <em>Let Sansa pay for my peace as I paid for hers.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"The more time we are here, the more we took in their savage vein," Dany whispered. Jon didn't understand what he meant until he heard the sound coming from outside their tent. Fighting moans and other things, he supposed.</p><p>"We are fire and blood," he replied, thinking perhaps in the way that certain things have no longer the importance to him than they used to. How easy it had been to propose to attack the North if that ensured the well-being of his family with Dany.</p><p>She smiled and brushed a loose curl from his tousled hair with her fingertips. She pressed their lips in a sounding kiss. When they parted, she rested her head on the crook of his neck and said, "I thought about Drogon tonight, for a moment."</p><p>Jon absently grazed his fingers at her bare shoulder.</p><p>"And it made me wonder," she continued, "Which of one of our children will claim his mount one day?"</p><p>Jon's eyes snapped open. "Why do you think that?"</p><p>Daenerys looked up and found him flustered.</p><p>"None of us is eternal, Jon. As much as the Red God favors us."</p><p>He was silent and thoughtful before sighing ruefully and admitting, "I suppose ultimately, it is Drogon who will decide."</p><p>Dany lowered her head and they lay more comfortably on the furs. She lifted one leg and crossed it on top of him.</p><p>"We could marry them," she proposed. </p><p>"Who?" </p><p>"Jorian and Missella."</p><p>There was no response other than the sudden tension of his body beneath her.</p><p>Dany only chuckled. </p><p>"You don't agree," she guessed, tracing with her fingertips a pattern over his chest. </p><p>"I..." he hesitated.</p><p>"I am your—!" she protested humorously, but he cut her off.</p><p>"<em>You are my wife</em>," he said bluntly.</p><p>Dany scoffed. </p><p>"But if it comes to happen...naturally?"</p><p>"It doesn't come naturally. Or else I would have desired my sisters. And Gods, news and old, know I never did."</p><p>Dany agreed. She’d told once she herself believed all her life, until her marriage to Khal Drogo, that she would be the wife of her brother but beyond that knowledge, she never felt any carnal desire for him.</p><p>"You are different. You will always be different to me," Jon kept saying.</p><p>Yet...the Targaryen bloodline had been kept pure through inbreeding, being Dany herself the daughter of the forced marriage between her parents, who were siblings. Jon fleetingly thought in their blood relation but ultimately discarded it. He didn’t think Dany anything but his love and his children, <em>his children</em>.</p><p>Dany sighed audibly.</p><p>"I don't say it because I want it to happen," she admitted. "I just don't want you to spurn them if it comes to happen."</p><p>He shifted under her and cupped her chin to make her look at him.</p><p>"I wouldn't," he stated. "I don't like the notion of it...but I wouldn't. They are my children. I will always love them until the day I die. And if they come to love each other that way, as long as it is their decision and not someone else's command or design..."</p><p>She leaned in to put another kiss on his lips, letting him know they shared the same mind.</p><p>After a while in silence, Dany spoke of another thought haunting her mind.</p><p>"We have a war ahead of us. It seems there always one."</p><p>"We will be fine," he answered. He hoped so, taking a hand to her bare growing belly.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Sansa</strong> <strong>(XVII)</strong></p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Winterfell </strong>
</p><p>"Your Grace?"</p><p>Sansa blinked several times until her eyes focused on the person in front of her. It was her Master of the Coin, who briefed her on the economic situation of the towns and villages of her kingdom.</p><p>She cleared her throat, turning her attention on him.</p><p>"You may continue, my Lord."</p><p>Her mind kept slipping to another matter. <em>Her little prince</em>. In a short time, it would be his first nameday, a day that the best healers and the midwives bode would never come. However, her boy fought hard. And she was there to take his hand with every ragged breath he took.</p><p>"As I was saying, White Harbor, Barrowtown, and Wintertown could be centers of textile production. High-quality textiles that could be sold to local high lords, larger cities, or even merchants at great fairs."</p><p>Sansa acquiesced, but in her mind, she ruled out the possibility of agreeing to what the man proposed. </p><p>In a short time, the second term granted by the Iron Bank would expire and her options were limited to two: use an emergency fund to refinance the debt and get a better deal, letting another year of low productivity pass for her people, or the another more emboldened option that implied some investment in a new technology brought from the Free Cities that could, in the words of her Master, help boost the precarious economy of the North.</p><p>"The fulling mill became common in the Essossi textile industry and was a huge step forward in terms of efficiency. It could mean a cost reduction in the fulling process and a higher degree of profitability."</p><p>"The economic importance of textile production seems to overshadow our production of commodities, I understand well?" Sansa added as a comment.</p><p>"Not exactly, Your Grace. The towns and villages of the north are home to a multitude of crafts, which in turn means that they are literally home to a large group of master craftsmen, apprentices, merchants, rich and poor, and their families, primarily owing their existence and wealth to the production of goods and trade."</p><p>"So why not give it the same regard? Instead of putting all our energies and investments in one place, we should take a more holistic look at it. "</p><p>"I don't think the time is running in our favor, and the Iron Bank—"</p><p>"I understand," Sansa cut him off. She looked out the window at the snowy roofs of the Wintertown cottages. "Our people are going through difficult times, but we are resilient." But no, it was not the faceless folk of Wintertown she saw in her mind but those of her dead family.</p><p>She turned her face back to him. “I will give thought to this and give you my resolution as soon as possible. In the meantime, keep working on those numbers. Winter may be retreating but it does not mean that it will not come back with all its might."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Her little prince barely did anything other than sleep and when he was awake, he did a little more than move his head from side to side trying to focus his gaze somewhere. He didn't look like a normal child. He was sick. Sansa could never present him in her court and Harry's bastard son was beginning to take steps through the corridors of the castle to remind her of her failure.</p><p>Whispers told Sansa to end her child's suffering by giving him a merciful death and take this only as an initial stumbling. A decision she would have made before when she hadn't discovered this great affection and devotion for him. </p><p><em>Eddard</em>, she had named him after her father. She had not named him before because she was supposed to name her first-born and heir this way and not this, as they called him, stumble. Sansa was going to fight for him, she decided that night. And only when he had taken his last breath, would then Sansa give up.</p><p>"<em>He is better than yesterday, worse than tomorrow</em>," were the reassuring words of the Maester each day. Sansa never would have imagined that her greatest support would be the scholar. </p><p>"<em>What if he's always like this? What if he never gets up?</em>" Sansa desperately asked for an answer that was different from the well-known conclusion they would always reach. <em>Then there had to be a spare</em>.</p><p>The last meeting with Harry that had turned violent had meant for their relationship to go from pretended cordiality to sharp elusiveness. Sansa couldn't stand him around and he held a grudge against her, observable in the looks he would direct at her. Maester Wolkan was aware of the full implications of it. And since then he had acted as an interloper in preventing Harry's anger from unleashing an extreme act of violence. Something he hadn't done the times Ramsey took her.</p><p>"Unfortunately, her Grace's health also has to improve in order to produce healthy heirs," would be his excuse.</p><p>Not so far from the truth.</p><p>Sansa hissed at the pain in her weakened limbs reminding her of it. On the table in front of her bed was her cup of tea. She looked over there and then at her baby. She wondered for a moment if the same medicine could work for him.</p><p>Before she could elaborate on that thought, the door opened with the sturdy figure of the Maester crossing the threshold.</p><p>"Your Grace," he greeted her as always, closing the door behind him. His expression was not one of reservation.</p><p>He wasn't bringing happy news, Sansa guessed.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Someone would please remind me why we keep allowing this to happen? Those are wildlings and marauders! People who barely know how to handle a sword, please!"  Harry's agitated voice echoed through the width of the Great Hall. </p><p>"Those are men and women who not so long ago fought with us side by side and share our table," an old Lord answered. He turned to look at Sansa, looking downright troubled. "If this situation could be sorted out in a more civilized—"</p><p>"Jon Snow declared war on our people when he allowed them wildlings to inveigle him into their amorality and savagery. There is no way that the kingdom of the North will render compliance with those who betrayed its people, not once but several times!" Harry broke in.</p><p>"In this very hall many of us stood up and raised our swords to thrust them on the floor while claiming him king," the former insisted. </p><p>Sansa swallowed hard. Littlefinger's knowing gaze haunted her across the room.</p><p>"Be mindful of your words, my Lord, for those were long-gone mistakes of the past that almost cost us all," a lordling claimed. He was of the rare young faces on the hall and Sansa recalled his name was Athdar. "A confrontation would depend on extraordinary aid, which I doubt not our Lord Harrold could ease for us nonetheless not be the best path to follow amidst the situation of our kingdom."</p><p>All the while they ignored Sansa's presence, an increasingly recurring occurrence since Harry had taken the seat beside her.</p><p>Would she have had the strength to protest, she would have silenced them and demanded the layout of a contingency plan. Instead, she kept quiet as she listened and watched intently, heeding Baelish's little voice in her mind.</p><p>No way would Sansa turn to the aid of the Vale or the Riverlands again. She was still paying the consequences of that futile attempt, she thought while looking at her lord husband.</p><p>"I can lead an assemblage north and liberate the strongholds taken by these savages, but that is not the real problem but the retention of said territory," this lordling proposed. </p><p>Sansa looked at him attentively. </p><p>"Perhaps, if her Grace would consider handing over these lands to renowned families from the neighbors of the Northern Kingdom..." Harry started out but she cut him off.</p><p>"I'm not turning over half my kingdom to foreign hands." She steadied herself at Harry's challenging gaze. Right here in full view of everyone she felt invincible. "How much can a wildling settlement do? We will cut strategic roads and block ships from coming from there. We will isolate them until we force them back. It has been done for years, we will continue to do so."</p><p>"Your Grace, these are not the same times as before. The Wall has fallen."</p><p>"Just part of it," she pointed out.</p><p>"The wildlings have no way of carrying this forward in the time. They have no education and their armies are not trained like the men of the North."</p><p>"They have your brother — <em>excuse me</em>, your cousin on their side."</p><p>"Jon was never a good strategist, I remind you, in case you have forgotten who won back Winterfell in the battle of the bastards."</p><p>"And that didn't matter too much at the turning point, did it, my Queen?" Harry interrupted, looking at her smugly. "As long as Jon Snow lives, the security of the kingdom will be threatened and even violated. We have to act now and forcefully."</p><p>"Are you suggesting that the queen sentence him to death? There will be those who will consider it kinslaying," the old Lord solemnly declared. </p><p>"Not if he dies in the act of treason. After all, we are talking about a criminal and a traitor," young Lord Athder said. "Your Grace, allow me to bring you his head and bear all the consequences of it. It would be an act of honor in the face of this transgression of the good name of your family."</p><p>Sansa watched him with a haughty and measured expression. He was a comely man, although quite naive due to his young age. He was no older than Robb when he was made king. And like her late brother, this one wasn't thinking with his head exactly.</p><p>They were not prepared for another long war or to lose more men. If just one blow was enough to make Jon fall...Sansa was not stupid. This lordling would not survive a showdown against Jon. But sending her husband away was an attractive idea and sown the seeds of new hope.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"What do you think of Lord Athdar's words?"</p><p>Maester Wolkan watched her carefully as he massaged her limbs. Sansa sipped at her tea and tried to ignore the twinge of pain.</p><p>"A young, spirited man certainly he is," he answered.</p><p>"He is a fool."</p><p>"Naive would be more assertive, Your Grace."</p><p>The Maester sighed heavily and moved to the side of the bed, covering her legs with the patience of someone who really cared.</p><p>"You never did anything when Ramsey came to me but now my husband attempts to have his way with me, and you defend me," she pointed out and squinted at him. "Why?"</p><p>"You'll understand we are both in different positions, Your Grace."</p><p>"I do," Sansa agreed. "As I reckon you understand my difficult position, do you Maester?"</p><p>With a nod of his head, the Maester let her know that he did.</p><p>"I have to get rid of Harry.  My betrothal to him was supposed to be an alliance the other party has just broken. He is the reason my son has been born this way," Sansa ignored the hesitant look he gave her when she said the latter and continued, "I need to get back my strength and for that, I need a servant by my side, not this vain, bumptious and deplorable individual."</p><p>"What do you want me to do?"</p><p>Sansa smiled stealthily.</p><p>"I want you to go to Lord Athdar with these words; I don't care about Jon's head. Though I would gladly receive it. What I'd like is a new consort. <em>Make sure he understands</em>."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jon (XLIX)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"I should go with you!"</p><p>Jon sighed. Jorian was with his foot firmly on the ground, protesting that he was not allowed to march alongside his father. </p><p>"Not yet," Jon gave him a short, simple answer. As he secured the saddle of his horse, Jon glanced at him. Like Daenerys, he dreaded the day when Jorian would be old enough to actually go out onto the battlefield. "And I hope you don't need to come with me. Ever."</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"Someday you will understand."</p><p>"I want to understand now!"</p><p>Jon chuckled. He walked over to Jorian, put a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it, landing a kiss on his forehead before kneeling in front of him. Even if he had his mother's hair and temperament, his son's eyes were just as solemn as Jon's.</p><p>"Someone has to stay and take care of your mother and your sisters when I'm not around," he tried to encourage him. Jorian continued to stare at the ground with a deep frown.</p><p>Jon looked up and saw that Missella was watching them from the doorway. He climbed the few steps there to reach her and sat up to be at her height. She did the same, sitting next to him.</p><p>"I do not want you to go," she looked at him with her deep violet eyes. "Don't go, Papa."</p><p>His heart was breaking into a thousand pieces but he could not show himself in such a way in front of his daughter. In front of none of his children, actually. To say that he was not afraid was to deceive himself but it was not a fear rooted in the fact that his life was suspended to his own luck but in not seeing again those he loved more than life itself.</p><p>Jon put a light kiss on her cheek.</p><p>"When I return, I will take you to the mountains to test your aim," he promised her, knowing it was the only comfort Jon could give her at that moment. Jorian climbed as well to sit one step down. "Both of you," he added.</p><p>"Do you promise?" Jorian asked.</p><p>"I promise."</p><p>An exhausted Daenerys peeked out from the room's corner. Being with a child, beautiful as she looked in his eyes, also took away a great deal of her energy. </p><p>"Dalya is asleep," she said as she approached and absently grazed her fingers in their daughter's hair. "It's better this way."</p><p>Jon also believed that it was better this way, for Dalya was still too small, even younger than Jorian and Missella the first time Dany left. After a few moments with the children, Jon deliberately sent them to the barn to find a sachet so as to have a moment alone with their mother. Dany quietly scoffed at it.</p><p>"I have to worry about my husband going to war?" She asked him, "For many women tell stories of how their husbands never came back to them, even if said husbands did come back from the war," she said as she raised an inquisitive eyebrow. </p><p>"You can never get ahead of what life throws your way—" he teased.</p><p>She leaned against the doorframe, one hand on her waist, the other on the lower part of her belly.</p><p>"In that case, I'm going to hunt you down and burn you alive," she threatened him, and Jon was certain it wasn't just teasing. Although he laughed inadvertently and sneaked out to pull her against him. He was already missing her.</p><p>Dany looked at him with serious eyes, giving up the teasing.</p><p>"You have to promise me that you will come back to see our child," she said.</p><p>She was not their children. He couldn't make promises to her that he might be unable to keep.</p><p>"If something happens to me, don't stop at anything to protect them—"</p><p>"Nothing is going to happen to you," Dany interrupted him again. This time she took him hard by the laces of his jerkin. "I forbid it," she declared, forcefully.</p><p>She slid a hand on the back of his neck and pushed him to bring their lips together in a goodbye kiss. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p><strong>Castle Black</strong>.</p><p><em>Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life</em>. Jon scoffed at the last part, although it was not a matter to be taken lightly. He closed the black prince's book and clutched it in his hands, pondering what he's just read. His understanding of the Valyrian tongue improved but it was still a slow process for him without Dany's help. Thoughts of her and of their children kept returning to Jon; he already missed them so badly. </p><p>To take Sansa's kingdom he was going to need more than an army of wildlings, Jon was not naive about it. With the west coast taken by the Ironborn and the northernmost north besieged, he would find among the Northerners nothing but contempt and volatile loyalties. Nothing else. The reason why Sansa was supported still rested solely in her name. She was the last scion of House Stark. And in the eyes of the great lords, Jon was a deserter, a traitor, the worst kind of scum. A smile spread across his face. There was a time when the notion of it was unbearable, and he was glad to realize that it has an effect on him no longer.</p><p>"Crow!" cried out a warrior of the Free Folk, a man called Thodol. He belonged to another clan therefore, for them, Jon was still the Crow. </p><p>Jon heeded his call and went to join the rest of the warriors in the Great Hall.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Sansa (XVIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Maester Wolkan had finished helping her that night with pain relief exercises but nothing had happened other than causing more of it. Sansa was overwhelmed but that was not the thought pacing the corridors of her mind.</p><p>"It's coming back. The pain," she pointed out.</p><p>"It worsens in wet weather, Your Grace," the Maester replied.</p><p>Sansa watched his expression. There was a slight tremor in his brow.</p><p>"You believe it to be true," she said, "I am cursed."</p><p>Little would they speak of it even with the years that had passed. Many were the voices that raised this argument but only Wolkan and perhaps someone beyond the wall, and some people in distant King's Landing would know that there was a reason for it.</p><p>Something very deep and dangerous here in the North.</p><p>"I am rather a rational being, Your Grace," Maester Wolkan explained. He tried to avoid her gaze.</p><p>A few steps away was her little prince's cradle, silent except for his labored breathing. </p><p>"And yet you believe in the existence of gods," she almost accused him of. It was not unknown to him what was her stance on the matter. </p><p>"It is a requirement for acquiring a place at the Citadel," he again explained. "In recent years, my faith has severely ebbed and my devotion to the <em>new</em> gods have been precluded by the remoteness I find myself in."</p><p>"We used to have a small temple dedicated to the Faith of the Seven." She winced at the memory of her Lady Mother taking her and Arya there to say their prayers. Apart from the boys, who were taken by Father to the Godswood. </p><p>Sansa never found consolation in the gods. Neither new nor old. And if they did exist, they had shown many times that they were not in her favor.</p><p>"Faith is a divine gift, regardless of where that faith lays in, in my opinion. There is nothing more beautiful than knowing oneself assured in the certainty that one is safe even from death," the old scholar tried to reassure her. </p><p>"If the gods gave me at least a part of what I lost back, then I would be the person with the most faith in this world," Sansa replied, a blank stare on her son. "If they could give me at least something to hold with me...<em>I would give everything I have for just one moment of victory</em>."</p><p>The Maester walked towards the exit. The chains of him colliding with each other, the sound of his marching.</p><p>"Your Grace, more than anyone, should beware the high price of words."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Jarl (XIII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Southrons in the northern kingdom were stubborn and proud people, even more so than the free folk. Last Hearth's abutting land was the first to fall under their conquest, an initial advance that marked the beginning of the war and sent an alert through the rest of the country. His people eagerly awaited a response from Queen Sansa Stark and her army. Their leader — or commander of sorts —, rested expectantly in his quiet, thoughtful way. </p><p>Men on horseback showed up one rainy afternoon at their camp, from the fortress named Dreadfort. They demanded to see Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark. The Crow appeared before them, acknowledging one of those men as Lord Lennox and the others as his sons.</p><p>The gray-haired, tough-looking, old man, was a seasoned warrior. Although his sons tried to talk their way out of battle, his words to Jon were harsh as the look he shot at him.</p><p>"<em>I have fought alongside your father and your brother, and now I realize that not having heeded your call was a wise decision at the time, for all I see in front of me is a traitor and deserter who associates with the enemy of the kingdom of the family that has saved you from ending up on the pikes of the battlements of the Red Keep when a suckling next to the heads of your half-siblings and that of your bloody sire. We will fight in the name of Queen Sansa, and even if we have to die, we will die with honor — </em><em>something that you no longer have one bit, bloody bastard.</em>" </p><p>Snow was unfazed by the old man's attack. Jarl and the other wildlings listened to the conversation, careful that they received some order that however never came. And in the same way, they did not understand nor was it supposed to be important to understand what the old man was referring to.</p><p>"What is the plan then?" Jarl approached an estranged Jon that same night. He was still with that book in his hands.</p><p>"We wait," he replied without taking his eyes off the yellow pages.</p><p>"Our people are not patient, Crow."</p><p>Jon glanced over at him.</p><p>"And it's the only advantage they have in their favor."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>A fortnight is what it took to move forward and take the fortress of this Lordling. It turned out that sieging the fortress had been enough and exposed the weakness of the Queen's realm. They were fucking starving. </p><p>Under the snowstorms that fell on the day, they took the castle, the old Lord and his three offspring were dragged to the ironwood stump in the center of the square and their head forced down onto the hard black wood as their necks were bared for Jon Snow's sword. The inhabitants of the fortress and the neighboring town came to witness the execution.</p><p>Jon squinted at the blank horizon, kneeling before the man who had reviled him earlier. He said something in a whisper that no one else but they could hear. The old man wore an expression of terror before finding his end when his was head severed from his body.</p><p>Afterward, Jon ordered the sons of the dead man to be released. Immediately, the three knelt and called him their King. They were afraid and at the same time, they seemed grateful. </p><p>Jarl didn't quite understand the ways of the Southrons.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"In the lands within the wall, there are rules for war," Jon explained later, "A man who owns lands and a castle in his own right is within his right to declare war on another for what he thinks is fair and all the men who live under his roof and eat his food must follow him. Yet when this has fallen, that choice falls to the next heir. And Lord Lennox's son, the new Lord Lennox, knew better how to choose than his late father. Although before he died, I made him believe that his children would meet the same mercy that those children he mentioned did. My true siblings, who were murdered before I was born. There is no worse thing for a father than to die knowing that your children will not be safe after you are gone."</p><p>"Now those men will seek revenge on their father's behalf," Jarl argued.</p><p>Jon shrugged. </p><p>"They are too hungry to even try."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The Magnar joins them along with his men at Karhold. By that time, they have been moving smoothly through the east and down without facing the queen's army. Jon would then come to the conclusion that his sister had a plan.</p><p>"She lacks military knowledge but is a smart woman who likes to play tricks on others. She has learned it from the best." Jarl followed him as they made their way up a steep hill. Beyond it was the fortress situated on two large stone structures linked by a hanging bridge. Jon beheld the view of the castle with a solemn expression. The same conclusion in their minds. They were going to need more than a siege and a couple of strong men to capture the castle. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Two moons followed each other without any changes. Keeping the conquered land was harder than expected and exhaustion began to take its toll. The free folk were not made for the south of the wall. Many men started seeing no point in staying too long on this side of the wall and started to defect. Without Karhold, they would never make it to White Harbor, which was essential to weaken Winterfell's defenses. By then, all of the Queen's forces will have rallied where they are found weakest. It would be carnage like that of King Stannis Baratheon if Jarl remembers it correctly. </p><p>They were in need of a miracle.</p><p>And it reached them, in the form of a woman.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>She looked like a woman from the realms would, with her refined and prim appearance. Her name was Wynafryd, a <em>strange name</em>, and she was of House Manderly. Of everything that happened the day she arrived at their encampment, what mesmerized Jarl was the fact that a woman of such fragile constitution would risk such trek toward the enemy's territory. </p><p>"I remember you," she said when Jon received her, ordering that she be treated as a guest. "Once my lord visited the castle that then belonged to my lord grandfather, along with his father Lord Ned Stark and his brother Robb."</p><p>"I remember you too, my Lady, although those memories are distant and fuzzy in my recollection. Take a seat and help yourself to our food. You need not fear. We are not the Lannisters or Freys who would deceive their guests."</p><p>"No, but you are wildlings, creatures that do not adhere to any code of honor or mercy."</p><p>"If you were afraid, my lady, you would not be right here."</p><p>"Afraid?" The woman laughed bitterly. "I was afraid when my grandfather promised me to the son of the man who had plotted to slain our people, including my father's brother. Later, it turned out that it was all a ruse to cajole the unfortunate man who ended up thrown in some well-forgotten by the gods place. Afraid? Afraid I've felt when, after that, Ramsey Snow promised to come to White Harbor to retaliate. I am not afraid to reach the man to whom my grandfather swore allegiance and entrusted his faith until he forsook his alliance as if words were nothing more than wind. If nothing else, I want to see your face when I tell you that my people will take no part in this conflict. I come to make explicit my neutrality in this affair. My grandfather trusted you and my father after him in Sansa Stark. I don't trust either of you. I want you to take your war away from my land and my people. When you solve it, then I will deal with the victor, but in the meantime, I don't want to take part in a conflict rather than it seems like children tantrums. Your Queen sister and yourself don't care who has to bleed in order to see your empress accomplished: the absolute downfall of the other."</p><p>Someone slapped him on his arm and Jarl looked at his side to find the Magnar who, raising his chin towards the Lady, demanded that her words were translated to him.</p><p>"I have heard of the things that have happened in the lands taken by your people. I don't want that for mine. But I'm also not stubborn like my predecessors, I know that Queen Sansa can't even stand for herself. The North deserves more and better. None can give us that. We have walls and we have a fleet. Come to us from anywhere, we will fight with honor, and die with honor if it comes to that, before falling into the hands of people who have long forgotten what honor is."</p><p>"You seem determined to hold me in your distaste, Lady Manderly, and I respect that. You also conveniently leave out bits of the whole story, nonetheless." Jon sat up straight. "</p><p>In front of your grandfather, I made clear my intentions to seek the help of Queen Daenerys Targaryen and more possible allies in the south, for a war that you will remember it was essential to win for the North and for the entire continent, if not for the whole world. Daenerys was the only one who answered accordingly and—"</p><p>"You dare bring up to this conversation the name of the queen you were sworn to and then deserted, the one you slaughtered with your bare hands?"</p><p>Jon's face paled perhaps with the memory of that old sin. Or perhaps fearing that someone might spit out the truth that was ignored by all but them.</p><p>"At the end of the day," Jon replied, "Who else but the North benefited from my actions?"</p><p>Lady Manderly looked up.</p><p>"My word is final, Jon Snow, Stark or Targaryen whatever you want to call yourself these days. House of Manderly will stand on its own in the face of this struggle."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"How much longer will you and your dragon woman keep your secret? Men are loyal to you as long as they have something to gain from that. We are not in an advantageous position right now and time is running out, Snow."</p><p>Jarl was trying to convey in his words everything he had heard from the mouths of the warriors as of late.</p><p>"Without the support of White Harbor, Sansa and her army, guided by the most mediocre of military minds, will be entrenched in Winterfell until we tire. Without Karhold we will never get to White Harbor."</p><p>"So what happens now?"</p><p>"What happens now..." he pondered. His gaze settled on the dark sky above them. "We break her resistance without fighting."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Daenerys (LII)</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><strong>Wolves Den</strong>.</p><p> </p><p>Dany, her children, Val, and her little Kalea, sat on the fur-carpeted floor of the cabin, near the stone fireplace, several books and open tomes in different languages open while Daenerys did her best to pour some of the knowledge of books into the little minds of the children. Her own immerse in other thoughts.</p><p>"What is an <em>heir</em>?" Missella wondered while reading a book named Tales and Songs of Old from the Seven Kingdoms. The closer Dany brought them to Valyrian's folklore, the more curious they would grow about customs that were alien to their little world in Wolves Den.</p><p>"Someone who receives something from their ancestors, like from their parents or grandparents," Dany explained. </p><p>"What kind of things?" Jorian interjected. </p><p>"Things...legacies."</p><p>"And what is a <em>lake and see</em>?" he tried to pronounce the word.</p><p>"<em>Legacy." </em>Dany corrected<em>. "</em>It's the same. Something you get from someone else. Maybe a title, like being a King or a Queen, and in that case also a kingdom to reign in. But in other cases, it can be a fight. A business. Or maybe a treasure."</p><p>Jorian's eyes widened. A question on the tip of his tongue before Missella interrupted with another question.</p><p>"Can Papa give us Ghost?"</p><p>Dany chuckled. </p><p>"I don't think Ghost is something one can possess."</p><p>"And Drogon?"</p><p>Dany's chest sunk.</p><p>"There's still plenty of time to answer those questions, curious little ones."</p><p>Dany went on explaining other types of customs and old-fashioned uses. She explained many things that night even with her mind and heart set on Jon's well-being and a bit distracted by the thought of Drogon. There were so many things she still had to tell them but she didn't know how to do it, where to start or when the time would be right.</p><p>At some point, Dany felt a tingling sensation in her belly. Her child was just as restless.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>"Do you think they can die?" Dany asked Val.</p><p>Both women were lying on Daenerys and Jon's bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. She'd taken to stay there in the time their husbands were away. While not unfamiliar, the closeness to Val reminded her of the days of confidence with Missandei and the memories saddened her deeply. </p><p>"We can all die. Well, almost all," she replied, glancing at her. "I hate not being there. If you brought your dragon here, many of our problems would be solved."</p><p>"I had three dragons before, it didn't make much of a difference in cushioning my enemies' attack."</p><p>"Before you were weaker."</p><p>Daenerys frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"</p><p>Val sighed and closed her eyes thoughtfully.</p><p>"You are naive no more. You've learned your lesson. </p><p>"Whatever happened down south between the two of you, others wouldn't have gotten over it. And for some reason, it made you two more stubborn and determined."</p><p>Daenerys looked at her stunned.</p><p>Later that night, while Val was fast asleep while she was still haunted by dire thoughts. Daenerys didn't know if it was her concern, missing Jon, or that feeling of longing that never completely left her every time she thought of Drogon but she didn't notice when a presence came next to her until she, startled, looked to the side to find Missella standing quietly beside the bed.</p><p>"Sweetling," Dany acknowledged her.</p><p>Missella took a step forward.</p><p>"Can I come in?" she asked mindfully of a low tone.</p><p>"Of course," her mother answered, making room for her while shifting on the bed. "Does something hurt you?" Daenerys steadied them while combing some of her dark hair behind her ear.</p><p>"I miss Papa," she simply said.</p><p>She sighed. </p><p>"I miss him too."</p><p>"You promised me not to leave again."</p><p>"We did?"</p><p>Missella shrugged. Although she looked worried, her face was rather one of confusion. </p><p>"Will...he die?"</p><p>Dany sucked in a sharp breath. </p><p>"No. I won't let it happen."</p><p>Missella's eyes fell and Dany wondered if she was asking the same question as herself at the moment. Is she really capable of protecting them?</p><p>The girl's eyes twinkled instead as she looked back at her mother.</p><p>"Drogon might help him!" she said, whispering excitedly.</p><p>Dany's eyebrows drew together. "He can't help us here."</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"Because many people in here and over there want to hurt him. We have to protect him as well."</p><p>Missella sighed dejectedly, leaning between Dany's chest and neck. Her hand came down to caress the black curls that reminded her of her father's hair.</p><p>"A dragon shouldn't be afraid," her daughter said, inwardly wisely. </p><p>Dany bit back a laugh.</p><p>"No, we shouldn't."</p><p>The next day Dany put the books aside and sat with the children telling them about House Targaryen, beginning with the conquest of Aegon. For this, she made use of all the stories that Viserys had ever told her, in a time when they were still just children fleeing from Robert's assassins and when he still loved her as a sister. </p><p>She wasn't going to overwhelm them with all of it in one sitting but she had decided it was time for them to know who they really were, even if step by step it brought them closer to the imminent danger that came with being who they were.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapters:<br/>- End of the war / Jon is named King Beyond the Wall / Sansa resorts to asking for help from the south / Tyrion returns to KL with plans / An intruder arrives in Jon's kingdom / Lyrissos urges Dany to return to Essos before the reappearance of Freya / Drogon wants to meet his siblings and flies North with a gift.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apparently here is where writers tell the readers to let them know what they think of the chapter but in my case, it is more like, if you have something to say, just say it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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